


Catch Me When I Fall

by QueenLuke



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Eventual Smut, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Subjects, M/M, Michael is very sad, Michael wants a nose piercing, college!luke, underage!Michael
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-05-19 22:26:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 43,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5982810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenLuke/pseuds/QueenLuke
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Just Breathe Mikey"<br/>Or where Luke's the one to clean up the mess and pick up the broken pieces that somebody else created.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

The huge black clock hanging on the large crème wall just hit eight pm, it seemed like the thing was ticking extra slowly today just to irritate the young blonde boy behind the counter. Luke sighed, this was the slowest business day of the week and he absolutely hated to work this shift, nobody ever came in on a Monday evening.  
It was dark outside already, the cold winter wind howling around the building like there was no tomorrow. The only sound that was heard inside of the tiny tattoo parlour was the soft sound of the radio playing in the corner of the counter and the buzzing of Calum's tattoo gun. Calum had been lucky enough to have a costumer at this hour, tattoos appeared to be more populair than piercings. Luke sighed again, drumming his fingers against the black marble counter to the beat of the song coming through the speaker of the radio, only two more hours to go before he could finally go home.

Time ticked by even slower as Luke waited behind the counter ,ready to greet costumers but none came in so he decided to unbox a few of the boxes that were laying around the shop with the new income piercings and fill them up in the store. The blonde haired boy turned the volume of the radio up a bit as he was greeted with Greenday and softly sung along under his breath as he opened up the box and took out a few small bags with new piercings and opened them up, placing them in the drawer where they belonged.  
It was about half an hour later when the door opened and the little bell above it dinged, signalling that there was a costumer. Luke looked up , studying the small blonde with a messy blonde fringe that hesitantly walk in, Luke chuckled "Think you got the wrong store kid" he said ,flashing the boy a cocky smirk before going back to opening the little bags with shiny silver piercings in them and placing them were they belonged.

The dirty blonde shook his head and walked towards the counter "No, I'm here to get my nose pierced" he said calmly while he flashed Luke a small smile before getting his wallet out of his back pocket and taking his ID out of it, handing it over to Luke like he was used to it. Luke's eyes roamed the ID carefully, it seemed legit and in all honestly he didn't even care if it wasn't because this meant he had a client.

"Michael Clifford,18" Luke read out loud and the dirty blonde in front of him nodded , Luke shrugged his shoulders "Alright" Luke said as he handed the boy his ID back , "Do you want it to be placed now? " Luke asked and the dirty blonde nodded his head "Yes please, if that's possible" Michael replied with a small smile, chewing on his bottom lip nervously.

"You're lucky that you decided to come by during the calmest business hours" Luke said while he placed the box with brand new piercings behind the counter. "Follow me then I guess " the blonde said, fixing the sleeves of his black henley before walking towards the back, Michael following behind him as he made his way through the hallway.  
Michael curiously eyed all the numerous doors they passed, curious to what was behind them. It wasn't long until Luke walked through the already open door at the end of the hallway ,that had with large black letters 'Piercings' painted on the crème walls above the door . Michael followed quickly behind him, walking into the small room with different equipment set up , his eyes scanned the room in amazement, there were piercings and tiny studs shining all over the place in the bright light of the room. There were small hoops, tiny balls and studs in every shape and size imaginable .

Luke sat down on a small rolling chair "Please Michael , have a seat" he said motioning to the piercing chair that was already set up, the black leather almost looking intimidating. Michael gulped and quickly sat down much to Luke's amusement "Nervous?" the blonde questioned, his crystal blue eyes landing on the smaller boy.  
Michael shrugged "Just not a big fan of needles really" he admitted and Luke chuckled "You wouldn't be the first one to come in here with that" he said making Michael let out a chuckle himself and loosen up a bit.

"Do you already know what you want or do you want to look at some pictures to decide what you want?" Luke asked referring to a large white book with over a hundred pictures of all kind of piercings.

Michael shook his head "No thank you, I just want a nose stud" he said and Luke nodded. "Alright then, Well I'm Luke and I'll be piercing your nose today" he said extending his hand and Michael quickly shook it , giving Luke a bright smile, he was actually getting a nose piercing.  
"I guess we'll just start with the smaller studs , once it's healed you can always come back if you want something bigger or a ring" Luke said while he got up and walked over to grab a box with all kinds of small studs in it. He walked back and showed the numerous piercings to Michael who looked at them with big eyes, they were all so pretty.

"See anything you like? I still have a few at the back of the store If you hate all of them" Luke joked making the dirty blonde laugh as he studied the gems in the box before shaking his head and pointing to a simple white stud that had hints of a violet colour in it and silver edges. "I like that one" Michael spoke with confident , putting a smile on Luke's face as he nodded and took it out of the box carefully.

"Were would you want it being placed?" Luke questioned as he laid the piercing down on a small silver table next to the piercing chair and switched it for a black sharpie. Michael pointed to the left of his nose and Luke nodded before creating a small dot on the left side of the small boy's nose "There?" he questioned while giving Michael a small mirror to look at it.

Luke saw that Michael was hesitating to say something and quickly added "Don't be afraid to say no, just let me know if it's okay because I wouldn't want you to leave disappointed would I?" with a comforting smile. Michael nodded his head before asking if it could go a little more to the right and Luke immediately wiped away the previous dot and drew another one but this time a little bit more to the right.

When Michael looked at it through the mirror he nodded his head "There is perfect" he said with a smile, he couldn't believe this was actually happening. The dirty blonde watched as Luke walked back and prepared the piercing gun, he swallowed the lump in his throat as he studied the dangerous looking thing and thought back at the reason why he wanted it in the first place.

It was supposed to make him look so much hotter and maybe then the boy next to him in physics would notice him, he was a punk and Michael thought he was hot. It was stupid honestly , his mother was going to be so mad when she sees it.  
Ever since it happened she went all protective over him, he doesn't blame her but he just wants to like a normal seventeen year old and not like he's ten. Michael wanted to move on with his life but his mother wouldn't stop worrying about him ,even though she had every right to worry about Michael he still hated being babied by his mother when he was seventeen.

Taking a sharp intake of breath as Luke nears with the piercing gun, Michael tries to calm himself down and not show that he is absolutely terrified "Ready?" Luke questions and Michael gives him a quick nod. Luke leans down and hovers above the dirty blonde, skilfully placing the gun against Michael's skin. "This is going to hurt a bit" Luke mumbles before shooting the piercing through the dirty blonde's nose.  
As much as Michael tries to hold it in he still lets out a shriek as the piercing goes through his nose ,clenching his eyes shut and tightening his hold around the arms of the chair. He feels Luke clean up a little bit of blood around his new piercing and Michael hisses in pain "Sorry" Luke mumbles in reply as he finishes up and tosses the tissue into the bin in the corner of the room.

He returns a second later with the mirror and let's Michael admire the brand new diamond in his nose "What do you think" Luke questions as he studies the piercing he had just placed "It looks awesome" Michael says while he admires the newly placed diamond stud. His nose hurts like hell and it's all red and irritated "It hurts like a bitch tho" Michael complains making Luke chuckle while he walks towards a desk and takes out one of the many folders laying on there.

"Yeah, it probably will for a few days" Luke said while handing Michael the folder "I highly suggest that you clean it at least once a day and try to touch it as least as possible , you don't want an infection, any information you might need is in the folder" Luke said while the dirty blonde quickly took a look inside of the folder.  
Michael nodded his head, thanking Luke and admiring the newly placed diamond once more in the little mirror. "Oh and don't remove it under any circumstances , it could cause a serious infection" Luke warned and Michael nods before he gets up to pay for the piercing and Luke motions for him to walk back to the front of the store where he could pay.

The dirty blond patiently waits while Luke rings up the piercing and the costs of placing it , once he's done Michael pays for it and leaves the tattoo parlour.  
It's cold outside and his nose is stinging , the winds rushing past the sensitive skin wasn't helping at all as he makes his way home, hands stuffed into the pockets of his black coat. Maybe this wasn't his brightest idea , his mom was going to freak when he would come home with a piercing in his nose.  
His parents were out for dinner and they had trusted him to stay home alone for the night ,Michael knew it was wrong of him to do this but he knew his mom would've never agreed for this and he also knew he was going to be grounded for the next couple of weeks when she found out what he had done and basically Michael was screwed , big time.

-

Like Michael had expected, his mom was beyond pissed the following morning, not only because he had snooped behind their backs but also because of how much danger he had put himself in. He knew she had every right to be mad. And she even went minor on his ass it was not that getting grounded was such an awful thing , in all honesty ever since it happened nobody bothered to be befriended with him so sitting inside of his bedroom on a Friday night, spending it with his laptop wasn't anything different from normal.

Michael sighed as he scrolled down his dashboard on tumblr , like he did almost every night, like he had mentioned before Michael really did not have any friends and it was quite a lonely life to live. He was thankful his mother did not take away his laptop, he knew she only did it out of pity, she knew exactly what a hard time her youngest son was going through and she did everything she could to make his life a little bit more bearable.

Even though everybody immediately dropped him when it happened his family stuck around and they showed more love and support than ever before, he was happy that he had his family to fall back on , he knew not everybody had that and he was extremely thankful for the fact that his family was there for him every step on the way.  
Sometimes Michael longed towards some kind of friendship or love that was from somebody outside of his family as selfish as it sounded. Michael knew it was selfish , but nobody could really blame him from wanting a friend or a relationship , he was seventeen and supposed to have the time of his life yet he couldn't and the sad part was that it wasn't even his fault even though Michael did still blame himself for everything that happened.

A knock on the door interrupted Michael's thoughts, as he swooped his head around to see who it was he spotted his older brother standing in the doorway with a soft smile on his lips "Mind if I come in?" Jason asked and Michael shook his head, the older sibling stepped inside of the room, closing the door behind him before he walked over towards the bed and sat down on it next to Michael.

"How are you doing? You've been up here for forever" Jason asked making Michael shrug in reply "I'm fine, just on Tumblr and watching reruns" the dirty blonde said shrugging as he studied his brother "You going out? " Michael asked as he took in Jason's outfit "Hmm" his brother replied while nodding his head "Just wanted to know if you're alright before I leave" he said and Michael smiled softly "Yeah, I'm okay Jay" he whispered softly making his brother run his hand through his hair and mess it up on purpose "Call me if you need me Mikey, I mean it" he said before getting up and readjusting his leather jacket before leaving ,stopping in the doorway to wave at Michael before softly closing the door and leaving.

Michael sighed , looking from the door towards his laptop screen. This was typical for Jason, he would always swing by, always making sure Michael was okay. He blames himself for not being there when everything happened half a year ago and even though neither of the two could do anything about it they still think it's their own fault. Maybe if Michael had done things differently he wouldn't be in this position right now, maybe if he wasn't so stupid and looked at the signs better he could've prevented it from happening.

Suddenly not feeling as okay as before Michael closed the Tumblr tab, rubbing his hands over himself In a self-protective manner ,something he had been doing ever since that day. Sighing Michael snuggled deeper into his blankets, deciding to watch one more episode of Supernatural before he would eventually go to sleep. One episode turned into four more , it wasn't an uncommon thing to happen, he had many sleepless nights and this was how he would spent them, watching tv shows as long as he possibly can until he falls asleep, it's better than tossing and turning for hours while bad thoughts interrupt his brain.


	2. Two

Michael sighed , slamming his locker close. He hated it here, everybody always stared at him and he could hear them whisper whenever he walked by. But Michael didn't blame them, he just wishes they would know he truth. Michael was used to it after half a year,the whispers, the stares ,the nasty comments every now and then. It wasn't that bad any more, it used to be much worse.

When it had just happend he would get horrible insults thrown at him daily but it even became physical for a short amount of time, leaving him battered and bruised. But that had luckily stopped by now, he wasn't worth their time anymore, he wasn't worth more than a whisper or a stare. Michael absolutely hated the feeling of being stared at, he always felt bad about himself when he heard people whisper when he walked by, knowing it was about him. Still to this day, Michael gets insults thrown at him occasionally. But the worst part was losing everybody around him , nobody dared to be seen with him , scared to harm their reputation.

Sometimes Michael thinks about how it was before everything turned bad, or how it would be if he hadn't let it happen, would he still be the same? Michael sure was an outcast but he had some good friends that he hung out with and he didn't despise it here as much as he does now.

Normally Michael tries to stay at home as much as he can , being home felt so much nicer and safer for Michael, it was warm inside and he had people around him that did believe him. His mom knows how much it takes for Michael to be at school and she hates sending him towards it but she also knew that education was important even though she could see how it takes it's toll on Michael and how depressed he gets when he comes home from school.

Michael's parents and his therapist had arranged with the school's principle that he could stay at home for a few days a week and doing his work there, but he still needed to go to school at least two days a week. That was the deal but sometimes times got so bad for Michael mentally that he just stayed home for the entire week or more.

Michael was beyond tired, he had another nightmare last night, leaving him to wake up sweating and crying. He didn't dare to go back to sleep or to wake up Jason, knowing to dam well he needed his sleep too. So he just laid in bed , tossing and turning as he was too afraid to go back to sleep and have another horrible nightmare, it might not be the reality but it still scared him beyond belief.

Shivering form the cold, the dirty blonde made his way out of the building, slowly walking towards the parking lot trying to spot his mother's car. Once he found it he quickly made his way down the school steps and walked towards the silver car, getting into the passenger's side mumbling a quick 'Hi' to his mother as she offered him a sad smile. She hated to see the look on Michael's face whenever he came home from school.

-

The ticking of the small clock on top of his therapist desk filled the room, loudly ticking away as Angela, his therapist, wrote down something before lifting her head and looking directly at Michael. Pushing her large black framed glasses further up her nose and tucking a loose strand of her pitch black hair back behind her ear that had fallen out of her tight ponytail , she offered Michael a genuine smile as she asked him the same question she asked him every time he was here "How was your week Michael?" Michael shrugged his shoulders "The same as always" he replied in all honestly "Nothing special happened" he added to it , seeing Angela nod her head.

"How are you feeling today? " She asked while scribbling something down on her notepad like she always seemed to do, Michael often wondered what she wrote down about him, if she thought he was a lost case too or if she purely understood him.

"Okay I guess" Michael answered , playing with his fingers "I went to school today" the dirty haired blonde mentioned and Angela started writing again "Did you just went today?" she questioned and Michael nodded his head in reply ,mumbling a small "Yeah" underneath his breath

Angela sighed "You know you need to go at least twice a week Michael, that's what your school and your parents agreed on" she said while trying to make eye contact with the young boy but Michael wouldn't lift his head from where he was occupied with his own fingers , playing with them and trying to calm himself down. He did that allot, avoid eye contact and play with his fingers when he's anxious or nervous.

Michael knew his therapist was right, sighing and letting his shoulders fall he mumbled a "I know, I just hate it there" Angela sighed, it wasn't a sigh of annoyance but more a sigh of understanding "I understand that Michael, I know it's hard to go back to the place where it all happened" She comforted the young boy. The dirty blonde lifted his head up, making eye contact with his therapist. There were tears prickling in the corners of his eyes and his voice cracked as he spoke "It's not only that, it's the fact that everybody stares at me like I'm a freak" Michael said, hugging himself and running his hands down his arms in a self-protective manner.

His therapist was used to this behaviour of Michael, it was the kind of behaviour he always showed when he was on the edge of breaking down. "You need to be bigger than them Michael" Angela said in a soft voice , trying to calm the young boy down. "It's easier said than done" Michael whispered "I understand Michael" the woman replied , voice still soft and comforting as Michael was on the edge. "You're seventeen now Michael ,just a few more months and you're out of that place, your education is important" She said and Michael nodded his head once again understanding that he had to go to school even though how much he despised it there.

Michael took a sip of his cold water that Angela always brought along for him and calmed himself down again until he was feeling okay again, his therapist told him to take his time, writing a few things down on her notepad again from their previous conversation.

"Have you been having nightmares recently?" Angela asked and Michael nodded his head ,taking another sip of his cold water before answering "Yes" he replied and the woman in front of him nodded her head "When was the last?" she questioned and Michael started to play with his fingers again "Last night" he replied honestly, feeling the panic of last night come up again. He had woken up sweating and crying once again, it happened allot.

Sometimes he had good weeks where he wouldn't get any nightmares and sometimes he had them every evening for a long period of time, especially in the beginning he had them nonstop but now he sometimes went without them for a small period of time. "Do you want to talk about it" Angela questioned and Michael shook his head ,not wanting to think about his nightmare. He could feel his throat closing up by just thinking about it.

"How's your piercing?" Angela asked, lightening up the conversation. Michael offered his therapist a small smile shrugging his shoulders "It's healing pretty well ,not hurting quite as much as before" he replied ,automatically touching it when being mentioned ,even though he was supposed to not touch it.

Michael and his therapist held a light conversation for the next couple of minutes until his time was up and they said their goodbye's , Angela walking with the dirty blonde towards the waiting room and mumbling something along the lines of Michael opening up more and making process to his mother while Michael put his jacket on.

Michael's mother smiled as she replied towards the woman but he was too far away to catch what she was saying, he figured she said her goodbye's as she was walking over to him not a minute after that she was walking over to him,questioning him if he was ready to go. Michael nodded his head in reply and tugged on the sleeves of his jacket so that they covered his hands too.

"How did it went?" Karen questioned as soon as she was pulling out of the parking lot. "Good" Michael replied honestly with a small smile while gazing out of the window. "She told me you were doing better" his mother stated and Michael shrugged his shoulders "I guess" the dirty haired blonde sighed. "It will be alright Michael, just give it time" his mother said, gently squeezing his knee in the process "Time heals all wounds" she added and Michael sighed, if only she knew how he felt from the inside. "Not all, mom" Michael replied sadly

His mother didn't bother to make a conversation after that, she just continued to drive home. Once Michael arrived at his home he immediately went upstairs and locked himself into his room, not wanting to talk about anything with anyone for a while, he just needed some time to himself to think about everything that had happened today.

Hours passed and after a while he heard a knock on his door, Michael took his headphones out of his ears as he spotted Jason standing in the doorway of his room "You okay, mom said you didn't eat dinner" his older brother said , he had a plate of pasta in his hands "I wasn't hungry " Michael whispered "Felt nauseous" he quietly added after it, looking up at Jason. The truth was that he couldn't stop thinking about his conversation with his therapist and he just kept feeling dizzy as the nightmare played over and over again in the back of his head.

The look Michael was giving his older brother was enough for Jason to understand exactly why the dirty blonde hadn't eaten "Mikey" Jason sighed as he stepped into the room, closing the door behind him and walking over to the bed, setting the plate on Michael's beside table and pulling his younger brother In his arms. That was what did it for Michael, he had been strong all day, trying to keep everything inside of him the entire day. But now he couldn't control himself any longer as he quietly let the tears fall , letting them roll down his face.

His breathing became ragged as he started to sob in his brothers arms. "You've been having nightmares again?" Jason asks while he softly pets Michael's dirty blonde hair. Michael nods his head making his older brother sigh "You should've woken me up Mikey" he said while trying to comfort the curled up human ball inside of his arms, better known as Michael

"I can't just keep waking you up every time I have a nightmare, you have college and footie practice and it's my fault that I have them anyways" Michael said through hiccups , angrily wiping away the salty tears that were streaming down his face. "You need to stop believing this is your fault Mikey, it wasn't and it never will be" Jason said, still softly stroking his younger brothers hair "Okay?" he questioned when Michael didn't show the least sign of a reply. The young boy nodded his head, sniffing and wiping away more tears.

"Then why do I feel like I could've prevented it if I hadn't been so stupid" Michael hiccupped, Jason sighed "Because you want to go back in time and prevent it, you're trying to see the signs right now that you would've missed back then but no one could've known Mikey, you're too hard on yourself" Jason sighed as he let Michael cry in his arms like he had done numerous times before.

It took some time before Michael had calmed down and after that he ate the half cold pasta that Jason had brought him in , Jason stayed in Michael's room that night, watching over him just to know that he was feeling alright. He knew Michael had a rough day today, first he had to go to the place he most despised and after that he had to sit through another emotionally draining session with his therapist while he had been lacking sleep the entire week.

So Jason stayed there , making sure he was alright and staying there the entire night just to make sure his little brother didn't have another night mare and got a good night of sleep this time, and he did.


	3. Three

It was a Friday today, Fridays weren’t so terrible since Michael only had school until one o’clock. Today had been okay so far, he had gone to school and nobody really said anything to him or whispered about him, they just ignored him and Michael was more than fine with that. He finally had a good night rest without a nightmare , he hadn’t had that in a while but with Jason next to him he didn’t feel so scared.

Walking out of his art’s classroom he quietly walked into the hallway and towards his locker. Opening his locker he noticed that there was a small piece of paper laying on top of his books, curiously Michael looked around the hallway, searching for any hints of where it could possibly came from, better said who it actually came from. Not seeing anything or anybody in particular he took the note from his books and opened it up and reading it.

_**'There’s a party at Jack’s tonight, I hope to see you there cutie.' __ ****  
-Chad** _

Michael blushed, quickly folding the note back up and shoving the paper into the pocket of his jeans to save it for later. He bit his lip to try and stop the small smile from forming onto his lips, did Chad really just send him a note, this was the best thing that had happened for him in a while. Michael really liked Chad and he just invited him for a party and called him cute, his day couldn’t get any better right now. Looking around quickly in any hope to see Chad but coming out empty handed, the dirty haired blonde quickly switched his books and closed the locker before walking towards the school’s exit, walking over to the parking lot where he saw his older brother’s car parked. 

Walking over towards his brothers car, Michael gave him a small wave before getting into the car “Hey” Michael said , voice a little bit more cheerful then normal as he threw his school bag on the backseat of the car and buckled his seatbelt up. Jason nodded at him “Hi Mikey” he said before he started to drive, looking over at his little brother, studying the curled up corners of his mouth. “So what’s got you in such a good mood” he joked and Michael shrugged “Nothing” acting as casually as he could.  
“Come one, I know you , what happened did you get a good grade back? “ his brother questioned and Michael played with his fingers, avoiding eye contact as he softly spoke “No, I got invited for a party tonight” a soft smile playing on his lips as he thought back at the note that was safely tucked away in the pocket of his black skinny jeans and Chad, Chad that had sent him the note.

“You know you’re still grounded Mikey” Jason reminded his younger brother, crushing his dreams in instant making him feel kind off guilty for saying that as he saw Michael’s happy mood disappear. “I know” Michael sighed sadly, he had been so excited that he had been invited that he forgot about the fact that he was grounded. There wasn’t really anything he could do about it now, he had gotten himself into this situation when he secretly got a piercing done.

His brother sighed next to him, stopping at a red light and turning towards his younger brother “Maybe I can convince mom and dad to let you go” he said before turning back and starting to drive again, seeing as the light had switched to green. “Really” Michael questioned hopefully, he really wanted to go, he never had really been to big parties, just small one’s of his friends but never a big high school party. “I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything Mikey” his brother said but it was enough for him to give him a little bit of hope again. “Still, thank you Jay” Michael said and the older sibling smiled down at Michael. “No problem , I’ll see what I can do” he said before they arrived at their home. Pulling into their driveway and killing the engine.

Michael walked into the house with his brother following behind him, nobody was home yet which wasn’t weird since Michael’s mom worked on Friday’s. He went straight to his bedroom to watch some reruns on his laptop until his parents got home and once they did Michael wanted to go downstairs to ask them but Jason told him to just stay upstairs and let him handle it. So Michael waited upstairs, he could hear them talking but not loud enough to actually understand what was being said. He waited patiently until eventually his bedroom door slowly opened and Jason stood in the doorway.

Michael looked up with a hopeful expression and when he saw the smile Jason was giving him he knew the boy had convinced their parents to let Michael go “They say it’s fine as long as I’ll drive you there and pick you up around midnight. Jason said and Michael got up and ran towards his older brother , engulfing him in a huge hug as he thanked his older brother over and over again. “How did you even convince them?” Michael asked, not believing his parents actually let him go “It wasn’t easy but eventually they said yes” Jason said leaving the dirty hared blonde feeling excited. 

-

Jason stopped the car at the house, Michael looked around , seeing some teenagers smoking outside of the house with bottles of beer in their hands “Michael” Jason said causing the younger boy to turn around “Please be careful, call me if something happens okay?” Michael nodded his head “I will Jay, don’t worry” he said before getting out of the car. Just when he wanted to close the door his brother spoke again “Oh and Michael” Jason said and Michael turned around “Have fun” he added with a smile which Michael returned as he nodded his head and gave his older brother a small wave before closing the door and making his way towards the house.

Opening the door and hearing the loud thumping of the music become even louder , welcoming him. Suddenly feeling very out of place in this room full of drunken teenagers , dancing, drinking, playing beer pong , he searched the room in hope to see a familiar face, Chad’s to be exact.  
Michael felt anxious to be here all alone, he knew practically no one here. Wiping his sweaty hands against his tightest pair of black skinny jeans, hoping that they would impress Chad, he slowly walked further into the house, searching for the boy. After what seemed like forever, but really it was less than two minutes, his eyes landed on the familiar guy. He was leaning against a wall ,standing next to what seemed like a friend with a red solo cup in his hands, a very cliché sight to see.  
Michael blushed as he saw him, Chad had dark brown hair and hazel eyes, a piercing right through his eyebrow and always wore ripped jeans. It was now or never the young boy nervously fixed the hem of his favourite blink shirt before he walked over towards where Chad stood.

The taller boy noticed him, raising his pierced eyebrow as he gave Michael a questioning look “Hi” the dirty blonde said , swallowing the lump in his throat as he nervously looked up at the brown haired bow, a blush creeping up and painting his cheeks a rosy colour.  
“I’m sorry but why are you here?” Chad’s friend questioned, he had never seen the guy before but he gave off very unfriendly vibes, his voice sounded harsh as he asked the question. “I got your note” Michael said over the loud music , feeling very small as the boy raised his pierced eyebrow even higher and questioned “Which note?” .Staring down at the younger boy with his hazel eyes making the younger boy feel uncomfortable as his friend next to him was also staring at him in a funny way. Michael quickly fished the piece of paper out of his skinny jeans and handed it over to Chad.

Chad read the note before he busted out laughing “This isn’t mine” he said while shaking his head and laughing and his heart stopped beating for a moment, this couldn’t be happening. “Why would I write a slut like you a note” He spat while balling up the note and throwing it right back at Michael. Michael’s breathing quickened, his throat went dry as he felt something inside of him shatter. 

Michael could feel cold sweat run over his back, he was going to be sick. He felt like crying and he wanted to run but he was standing frozen in place. This was not what he had planned, this wasn’t supposed to happen , this was just a bad dream. “Did you really think I would write you such a stupid love note , come on everybody knows you’re just a slut” he yelled over the loud music.

Everybody stared at the scene and Michael wanted to run and hide so badly but his feet just wouldn’t move, he could feel his eyes burn and his body shake a bit as he got called out in front of everyone. Memories started to replay in front of Michael’s eyes, he was wrong, he didn’t know half about it, he was just like everybody else. Michael was so stupid and naïve for believing the note immediately, only now he realised, he always had been naïve. It was his fault, he should’ve learned to not be so naïve in the first place.

With dangerously set eyes Chad stepped closer towards Michael, a small smirk forming on his face. He glared down at the dirty blonde while everybody was watching, raising a finger up in the air and harshly poking his pointer finger against Michael’s chest as he spoke, Michael backed up in fear a little. “We all known what you did cockslut , we all known about you and –“

“CHAD LEAVE THE FUCKING KID ALONE” suddenly Michael was gently pulled back by his shoulders, he felt a very firm body slightly pressing against his back. The dirty blonde didn’t even realise that there were tears uncontrollably streaming down his face until now or how bad that he was shaking in fear, he probably looked like a complete idiot , still standing there in front of Chad. “I SWEAR, I’M SO ASHAMED TO HAVE YOU AS A BROTHER” the guy behind Michael yelled making everybody ‘oooh’  
With his head hanging low , Michael was pulled away towards the kitchen . His legs mindlessly followed the guy that had a soft hand placed at the back of his shoulder, guiding him through the house, he felt like such an idiot right now, he just wanted to go home and be alone, cry the entire night alone in his bed. 

Once they were in the kitchen , where only one other guy was standing, mixing a drink and grabbing a few beers, it was such a contrast to the heavily crowded living room. Without having any control of his body anymore Michael let out a sob, immediately regretting it, why did he have to be so weak all the time, he hated it. “Hey ,are you okay” the guy that had just dragged him out of that situation asked, gently rubbing his back in a comforting manner “ I know my little brother can be a dick sometimes but that was just uncalled for” he said while Michael was trying to calm himself down again.

Michael looked up, the guy didn’t even look like Chad, well he did have the brown hair and hazel green eyes that matched Chad’s, but he was buff with several tattoos littering his arms and a ring right through his nose. Michael nodded his head slowly , even though that he really wasn’t. Wiping his tears away quickly and trying to control his breathing “Yeah I’m fine” he mumbled, wrapping his hands around himself. The guy handed him a glass of water and he gladly took it, slowly taking a few sips and trying to calm himself down.

“I’m really sorry for my brothers behaviour” the guy said, running a hand through his hair “I didn’t even know Chad had a brother” Michael said, his voice was still a bit shaky as he spoke. The guy gave him a small smile “I sometimes wish I didn’t have a brother , he’s a literal piece of shit” he said before adding “I’m Zack by the way” “Michael” the dirty blonde replied, finishing his glass of water and Zack gladly took it and put it on the kitchen.  
“I feel so stupid” Michael whispered, shaking his head. “Don’t , Chad’s just a first class asshole” he said placing his hand on Michael’s shoulder “If you want you’re welcome to stay with me and a couple of my friends down in the basement, we’re just hanging out” Michael bit his lip, he really didn’t want to stay but he also didn’t feel like calling his brother up and having to explain everything, he already felt like such an loser “Or do you want to go home, I can fix you a ride home” Zack quickly added, seeing the younger boy debating inside of his head.

Just when Michael wants to answer ‘no’, he doesn’t know anybody there and they’ll probably want nothing to do with him, there’s a guy walking into the kitchen “Zack what the fuck is taking you so long” he yells but stops his movement when he sees Michael, he must look like a complete fool standing here in a post crying state.  
The guys mouth drops into an O shape as he takes in the scene in front of him, Zack ignores him “You can stay here with us if you want, play some games and just chill honestly it’s no problem, or I can get someone to drive you home” Zack said with a shrug “whatever you want” he says as the guy walks closer to Zack , slinging an arm around his shoulder. “Yeah man, it’s way more fun than up here anyway, you’re welcome downstairs” Michael shyly nods his head, agreeing to the offer to stay and following them down the stair to the basement while they carry a few beers downstairs.

As they walk into the basement, Zack places the beer down on a table and Michael awkwardly stands there at the bottom of the stairs ,not really knowing what to do or say, did they even want them here or were they just being nice to him.

“Guys this is Michael, he’s joining us tonight” Zack introduces him and places an arm around Michael’s shoulders and pushes him towards one of the chairs that stood in a circle around one big table. Michael gets a few replies all seeming very cool with his presence as he shyly sits down on one of the unoccupied chars.  
He gazed down the room , picking at his fingers. Michael was never really good at new situations and he felt kind off out place here. He takes in all the different faces and his eyes widen a bit as he sees a certain blonde guy sitting on one of the chairs straight across him, casually sipping his beer and laughing with his friend. Luke, the guy who pierced his nose, just gives him a quick nod of acknowledge when the two connect eyes before turning back to the conversation with his friends. Small world , Michael thinks.

The rest of the night is filled with laughter and some stupid games and Michael loosens up allot, they also have some acoustics with them and occasionally play a few songs, some guy even complimented his shirt , giving him a high five for liking Blink.  
The guys are really nice to him, and now he was left with a cup of alcohol in his hands as they played spin the bottle with different tasks every time the bottle was spun around, there was an empty beer bottle laying on the ground that they spun around. Michael was having the time of his life, laughing along with the rest , he felt accepted here. The small basement was filled with nice people and he had never thought that he would end up here earlier tonight.  
Everybody was buzzing, having an amazing time, Michael didn’t feel out of place anymore as everybody was so open in here. The alcohol that was going pumping through his veins made him feel better in some way, more relaxed and warm inside. 

Michael had spinned the bottle and had to do a shot of something but he didn’t mind. They were still spinning the same empty beer bottle and this time it was Luke’s turn to spin the bottle. Just as the blonde was about to spin the bottle one of the guy’s yelled “Okay next one has to spend seven minutes in heaven with our Lukey boy” Making Luke roll his eyes and push him away playfully. They all laughed , Michael included as Luke spun the empty beer bottle but his breath hitched a bit when it landed on him.  
Some drunk guys cheered but Michael kept sitting, they got Michael up and pushed him into the direction of another room , they pushed the two of them in and closed the door behind them, it all happened so fast that Michael couldn’t even protest. The dirty blonde awkwardly stands there , not sure of what he was supposed to do in here. Luke sighs “Look Michael, we don’t have to do anything” relaxing the younger boy a bit “No it’s alright” Michael whispers, the alcohol making him loose up more and think less about everything. 

“You sure because you look uncomfortable to me, Michael you don’t have to” Luke says taking a step closer so they’re bodies are nearly touching “I want to ,it’s just that I have never done this before” “What?” Luke questioned, they were whispering as if it was the biggest secret ever told “Kiss someone” Michael replied blushing “You never kissed someone before?” Luke whispered, surprise written all over his face “Is that bad?” Michael questioned , feeling a bit insecure about this topic “Not at all ,are you sure you want to do this?” Luke asked, wanting to make sure that the younger boy was okay with giving his first kiss to him. “Yes, if you don’t mind , I mean I probably suck at it” Michael whispered with a small smile

“It would be an honour” Luke whispered ,slowly wrapping his arms around Michael’s waist and cupping the smaller boy’s cheek in his hands before he gently placed his lips against Michael’s. Michael kissed back , letting Luke take the lead and softly placing his hands on Luke’s shoulders, the skin was pleasantly warm under his touch. His eyes were closed as he slowly let his lips move against Luke’s , his lips were full and soft ,the ring that was pierced through his bottom lip was cold ,contrasting against the blonde’s warm lips. 

Luke tightened his grip on Michael’s waist a bit , letting the hand that was previously cupping the younger boys cheek move upwards and run through Michael’s messy fringe ,deepening the kiss a bit. Michael hummed In satisfaction, pulling the older boy’s broad body closer to him, feeling Luke’s body heat against his.  
The kiss may have just been soft and careful , slow and sensual it still sent a rush of delight through the dirty blonde’s body, his head was swimming up high as they kissed for a few more minutes before finally pulling away. Both of them were out of breath and panting slightly 

“Wasn’t bad at all” Luke stated and Michael blushed violently as the blonde just looked at him, a small smile tugging on his lips , black hoop shining in the dark room. Neither of them could say anything as the door opened and their seven minutes were up. Both getting out of the room. Michael literally went from having the worst night ever to having his first kiss with someone that he found ridiculously hot.

Maybe his dreams about Chad were crushed but that wasn’t the end of the world, better now than never, now he could go on with his life knowing that his ex-crush was an complete asshole. Luke took a glance at the blushing young boy and gently took his hand seeing as the boy wasn’t moving and kind of awkwardly standing there.  
They both exit the room and Michael could see Luke high five one of the guys who let them out. Just as Michael wants to sit down in his own chair Luke sits down and pulls him into his lap and he is okay with it, he stays there for another hour, sitting on Luke’s lap until his brother text him that he’s there and he says goodbye to everyone, they let him walk back upstairs and out of the house with no problem. He gets into his brothers car with a big smile on his face and Jason asks him how it was and he replies simply with “Fun” but the smile on his face says enough for his older brother as he just starts to drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading the already third chapter of Catch Me When I Fall.  
> I hope you liked it , if you did so please comment and leave kuddos it would mean the world to me  
> Love you guys!


	4. Four

The sun was shining brightly through the curtains, lighting up the room and painting the bright white walls a shiny gold colour. As much as the sun was trying to warm the atmosphere up , it still couldn’t fight the cold February air.

Groaning and pushing his face more into the softness of his pillow , Michael slowly started to wake up. He pulled the blankets higher over his pale body, trying to keep himself as warm as he possibly could, trying to fall back to sleep. His body felt sore, his eyes burned and he felt dead tired, he was mentally drained. Today had just started and he could already feel that this wasn’t going to be his day.

It wasn’t unusual for Michael to feel this way, his therapist had told him this was just the aftermath of everything that had happened. Sighing Michael slowly gave up the fight to fall back asleep and slowly pulled the blankets a bit down, letting his eyes open slowly and sighing as he took in the brightly lit room.   
Michael was used to waking up like this, it was one of the many side effects of depression. There really wasn’t anything that he could do than just get up and make the best out of his day or stay in bed and try to forget about the feeling of complete misery by oversleeping and overeating. He was used to do both, it depended on how bad he was feeling, sometimes he just didn’t have the energy to get up and try, especially after a terrible nightmare.

The only plus side of today was that he didn’t had to go to school today, it was one of his off days today and he couldn’t be happier to stay at home the entire day. Deciding it was time to get up and at least shower and eat breakfast , Michael let himself slowly slide out of the comfort of his warm and safe bed.  
Bare feet meeting the soft and fuzzy carpeted ground, he groaned, his body was aching and he couldn’t keep his slightly swollen eyes open. The dirty blonde headed straight towards the shower, rubbing his eyes with the sleeve of his oversized sweater. Michael yawned as he entered the bathroom and turned on the lights, giving him a headache since the brightness was unbearable for his tired eyes.

Michael turned the shower on, watching as the water started to pour out of the showerhead and cascade down onto the tiled floors. Steam immediately filled the room as the water was warming up. When it was finally warm enough , Michael quickly undressed himself and stepped underneath the shower. It was kind off his favourite place besides his bed, it was warm and comfy and he had the time to think everything through , everything and anything that his mind desired. He also loved the clean feeling it gave him.

After Michael was done with washing himself and embracing the warmth , he turned off the shower and quickly dried before grabbing the hoodie and pair of sweats that he had laying around in the bathroom, he got dressed and threw his sweater in the laundry basket before he slowly made his way downstairs and into the kitchen where his mom was standing above the stove making some bacon and eggs.

A small smile formed on Michael’s lips , he loved bacon and eggs. “Morning” he mumbled as he walked into the kitchen and sat down on one of the chairs , his mother turned her small body around slightly and have him a small smile “Morning Sweetheart, slept well” Michael hummed in reply, he did sleep well, he just wasn’t feeling at his best today.

Michael tugged the sleeves of his hoodie down, and itched his nose, flinching as his nose stung, it had been just a little bit over two weeks that he had the piercing but It still was incredibly sensitive. The pain had died down , it now just stung whenever he touched it or whenever his nose would get cold. His mother noticed and chuckled “Not your smartest idea was it” she said while taking a plate out of the kitchen cabinet “I know, but I wanted it anyways” Michael said “Why didn’t you ask, we could’ve talked about it” his mother questioned , resting against the kitchen counter slightly as she studies her youngest son. “I know you would’ve said no” Michael shrugged his shoulders while looking at his hands.

“Why are you so sure of that?” His mother questioned while scooping the bacon and eggs onto a plate and handing it over to Michael who thanked her and sighed “I don’t know, I just didn’t want you to say no” Michael whispered “You’re always so overprotective of me , I just figured you would say no” his mother sighed as she sat down across from Michael.

“Michael if you’d just had talked about it with us and you really would’ve wanted one we would’ve been okay with it” she said shaking her head slightly “You know your father and I are just looking out for you and want the best for you “

“I know” Michael sighed “I’m sorry” his mother smiled “It’s okay, just talk to us the next time you want something, we would only say no if we knew you’d regret it later, Michael we just want the best for you and for you to be happy” His mother said while placing one of her warm hands on Michael’s and the boy gave her a warm smile “I know, I was just being stupid, I’m sorry” Michael mumbled again and his mother gave his hand a tight squeeze before getting up and leaving Michael alone to eat his breakfast. After he was done he slowly got up and put his plate in the sink before he walked back upstairs, deciding it was the best if he would just start on his homework and be a good student for once. 

Laying on the couch , several hours later just mindlessly watching tv. His mom had went to work a couple hours ago leaving him home alone for the rest of the day until his brother would come home from college, which could be any moment now. Casually eating his lunch and watching a long marathon of a certain reality tv show that he didn’t even know the name of as he laid underneath a thick blanket.

It wasn’t long after that ,when he could hear the front door open and close, signalling that Jason was home from college. His older brother walked into the living room, his blonde hair messy and sticking a bit to his forehead “Hey” Michael said , making his presence known even though he probably already knew from the loud noises of the television. “Hey” Jason called back while messing around on his phone and dropping his heavy sports bag on the ground “You had practice?” Michael questioned and Jason nodded “Yeah, tonight’s was cancelled due to the weather

”You already ate lunch?” Jason said as he saw the empty plate in front of Michael and the boy nodded his head “yeah” he replied , looking at the plate himself for a second before turning his gaze back towards his brother “Why?” he questioned and Jason shrugged his shoulders before leaning back against the wall. “I was planning to go out to eat something, you could still join if you want” Jason said and Michael shrugged his shoulders “sure , if you don’t mind” The oldest sibling chuckled and shook his head “Course I don’t Mikey, come on get your coat because I’m hungry” Jason said and Michael shrieked before getting up quickly “Let me change out of my sweats first “ Michael said before quickly running up the stairs ,hearing Jason call after him to hurry up since he was hungry.

Michael quickly switched his sweats for black skinny jeans and left his hoodie on , quickly tugging on his favourite pair of black converse and running down the stairs, quickly grabbing his jacket and tugging it on. Jason playfully rolled his eyes as Michael came into view “Took you long enough" he teased , Michael rolled his eyes and told him to shut up before they both walked outside of the house.

Sometimes Michael feels bad about making his brother spend so much time with him, the two siblings had always been very close but the past half year Jason had barely left his side, always making sure Michael was alright and he felt guilty for taking up so much of his brothers time because he knew how busy he was nowadays. Even though Michael felt sad about the fact that the only friend he had was his older brother, he still was incredibly thankful for having Jason in his life and at times like these, when they were walking next to each other, casually holding small conversations about random things he didn’t mind it one bit because he knew that Jason would always be there for him no matter what.

Walking into the slightly crowded lunch place both of the brothers took a seat at one of the boots next to the window. “What do you want?” Jason asked while fishing his wallet out of the back pockets of his jeans. “Coke and two vanilla cupcakes” Michael replied and his brother nodded before walking over to the counter and ordering for the both of them.

Several minutes later Jason returned with a tray of food for the both of them, he slid into the booth, sitting opposite from Michael before he handed over the dirty blonde’s food. Both of them started to eat, Michael casually peeled the paper cupcake holder down a bit before taking a bite of the small treat while his brother took a bite of his own sandwich.

-

Michael giggled as both of them walked back towards their home, Jason was telling him some kind of funny story when something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. “Jay” Michael squeaked, holding his brother back from the small kitten that he almost had stepped on. Jason’s eyes widened as he looked down at the ground and followed Michael’s gaze towards the small ball of fluff that laid on the sidewalk. “Is it dead? “ Michael questioned just as Jason bent down and touched the small animal “No it’s alive” he said, softly running his fingers through the tawny fur. Michael bent down himself, sitting next to his brother and petting it too “Poor thing” Jason mumbled as the small kitten played with Michael’s fingers “We can’t leave it here Jay” Michael said “It won’t survive” he added sadness clear in his voice , the thought of the small animal dying here outside , all alone. It was still just a kitten, it had no chance to survive on its own out here.

Jason didn’t say a word as he slowly scooped the small animal up in his hands , it was so ridiculously small that it didn’t even fit in his hands. “We won’t “ Jason said handing it over to Michael “It seems to like you better” Jason said and Michael giggled as took the little ball of fur into his hands, cooing at the small noise that was supposed to be a meow left its mouth.

Keeping the animal close to his warm chest, Michael carefully clutched it in his hands , his thumbs softly stroking the small thing to calm it down as they walked home. “ Jason sighed , looking at the animal and wondering out loud “Why would someone just leave it there” and Michael sadly shrugged his shoulders , not knowing an answer.  
It wasn’t long after that before the brothers arrived at their home, Michael gave the kitten towards his brother so he could take off his coat. The tiny animal made small noises of protest as it lost its warmth but it was safely tucked away in Michael’s arms again within seconds, laying against his chest with its head pressed against the soft material of Michael’s sweater.

Laying down on the couch carefully, Michael pulled the blanket up his legs. Softly scratching behind one of the kitten’s ears as he whispered “Hello little one” The kitten nestled into the thick fabric of his sweater, making soft noises of appreciation ,not being able to meow yet. Jason smiled as he petted the kitten too before saying “We need to take it towards the vet Mikey” Jason said sighing, petting the small animal “Iknow” Michael breathed out , feeling bad for the little guy. “Let’s just wait until mom’s home and we’ll figure everything out, Okay?” 

“Yeah” Michael breathed , Jason ran a hand through Michael’s dirty blonde hair before walking towards the kitchen, grabbing two cans of soda for them before returning and handing one to his brother who thanked him. Both of them watched some tv after that, the kitten sleeping on Michael’s stomach.

A few hours later the sound of rattling keys was heard and the opening of the front door, their mother was home. Karen walked through the door yelling that she was home through the house before walking into the living room. It didn’t take long before his mother spotted the animal, staring at the small ball of fur that was laying on her youngest stomach, Michael had the small animal safely tucked away as it slept while Jason was sitting next to casually next to him. Raising her eyebrows at the two and placing her bag on top of the eating table, Karen nodded her head towards the kitten “Who’s this little guy” she said while walking over towards the pair , getting a closer look at the small animal in Michael’s arms.

“We found it on the street all alone” Michael answered, running his fingers softly through the tawny fur making the kitten let out small sounds of appreciation. “It was abandoned” Jason added. Karen looked at the small kitten and back at her sons. “Can we keep it?” Michael softly whispered, hopefully looking up at his mother “I don’t know Michael” Karen replied while rubbing at her forehead ,studying the two in front of her and sitting down on the couch next to the two.

“We at least need to take it towards the vet, it’s still too small it needs to be bottle fed” Jason said , bending down to pet it “I can take it towards the vet” he added before looking up at his mother hopefully. Karen sighed before bending down to pet the small animal herself, she couldn’t say no towards the small animal, it obviously needed help and she was already sold when she saw the tiny ball of fur up close. “Yes we can keep it” She finally said “Really?” Michael gasped as he looked at his mother in shock, he was almost certain she was going to say no.

“Yeah, but you need to take it the vet, let them check on diseases and such, make sure it’s healthy” the oldest sibling nodded his head, before getting up “then we’ll go now before the vet closes” he said before hugging her to thank her. Michael got up slowly, careful not to bother the small kitten too much, Jason grabbed his car keys before leading Michael with the kitten still in his arms out of the door and into his car again to drive towards the vet.

They visited the vet to let the small animal get checked and it turns out that the kitten was barely three weeks old, it was completely healthy it hadn’t eaten or drank in days and needed to immediately be bottle fed. The vet gave them a bottle and formula to put inside of it, and telling them to keep it warm at all times during the first few weeks and everything else that they needed to know.

Michael had the small kitten wrapped up in a soft blanket that the vet had given him while Jason was driving them back home again. Jason smiles as he sees Michael occupied with the small kitten in his arms ,“You got a name already? “ Jason questions while keeping his eyes on the road No why me?” Michael replies, raising his eyebrows in confusion “Because you two have been inseparable for the past three hours” Jason chuckled “So what do you want to name it” the older sibling asked again. Michael bit his lip, looking at the kitten before speaking “Mittens?” Jason pursed his lips, thinking about it for a few minutes before nodding his head “Mittens” he said nodding his head making Michael smile and look down at the small kitten that was wrapped in a baby blue blanket “Mittens it is then little one” Jason said while looking down at the kitten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, so i hope you liked the chapter even though it was kind of a filler. I promise that there will happen something in he next chapter but i'm not gonna spoil what.  
> What do you guys think of the story so far? Any clue what could've happened to Michael? or what is going to happen? feel free to comment, i love reading your comments also if you liked it please leave kuddos.


	5. Five

Angela greeted Michael as he slowly walked into the office and took place on the black leather couch, there were large and colourful paintings hanging all over the beige walls making the uptight room feel a bit more alive. Michael gave her a small smile as she closed the door behind them and walked over to her bureau, her black heels clicking against the floor. Sitting down on the large black chair that made her petite body seem even smaller than it actually was. 

“So Michael” Angela said as she finally had settled down in her chair and had opened her notebook in front of her, a pen in her hand ready to start writing. “Tell me about your week”

“It was okay” Michael whispered while playing with his fingers “Jason and I did find an abandoned kitten and are taking care of it right now” he added making his therapist nod her head “Tell me more about the kitten Michael” Angela said as she laid down her pen “Well Jason and I found it on the street all alone and we couldn’t leave it there so we took it home, we’ve had it for three days now” the dirty blonde said with a small smile on his face, in the three days that they had mittens he had fallen completely in love with the small kitten.

“Did you name it” Angela questioned, folding her arms over each other , leaning on the table “Mittens” Michael replied. Angela smiled and nodded her head “What do you like about Mittens?” the black haired woman asked , her honey coloured eyes full of interest. “She keeps me company” Michael said quietly and the woman nodded, unfolding her arms so she could pick up her pen and write something down “Do you feel like you need the company Michael?” she asked as she was writing something down “I just feel alone allot of the time and it makes me feel guilty because I know my family tries really hard to be there for me but I still get lonely sometimes” he said, shrugging his shoulders sadly.

“That’s completely normal Michael” Angela said, there was a comforting tone in her voice “I just hate myself for longing for somebody outside of my family to do things with” Michael sighed, running a hand through his dirty blonde hair. “It’s okay to just want a friend Michael” His therapist said “It’s only human to want that Michael, everybody wants a friend to hang out with and do things with” She said, comforting him.

“I know but it still makes me feel guilty because I know how hard my family tries to be there for me” he sighed , wrapping his arms around himself in a hugging manner. “They just want you to be happy Michael, you have a very loving family but that shouldn’t make you feel guilty” Angela replied, her pen was darting across the paper faster than ever before. “But I feel like I’m taking that for granted, I mean I know that there aren’t allot like close family’s like mine these days , I know that allot of people of my age struggle with family issues and I don’t have that, I have a loving family that would do everything for me and yet I still feel like I take that for granted because I still long to have somebody to feel the emptiness I feel” 

Angela sighed, leaning backwards in her chair almost as if she was trying to find the right words to say. “You know Michael, it’s okay to feel like that but it doesn’t mean that it’s true just because you feel like that. From what I hear you do everything except take your family for granted , you just seem to be mad at yourself for not finding your family enough am I right?” Michael nodded his head , he felt ashamed that he felt like his family wasn’t enough. “Michael it’s only human to want a friend and you shouldn’t beat yourself up about that, you’ll find someone to share things with but that could take some time” she said offering Michael an honest smile.

Michael nodded his head again, playing with his fingers “I still feel guilty” he said. “Feeling guilty won’t solve anything Michael” Angela said and Michael nodded his head “I know that but somehow I can’t help it “ he said wrapping his own arms tighter around himself , the woman smiled , nodding her head and writing something down quickly “That’s okay Michael, you know some things are just in our nature, some people stress about allot of things and even though they know that it won’t solve anything and even make things harder for them they still do it because it’s in their nature “ she said and Michael nodded his head, she was right feeling guilty didn’t help him with anything yet he still did it “So it’s okay to have certain kind of feelings as long as you don’t let them influence you too much, but you have no reason at all to feel guilty Michael, please remember that when you feel like this again” Angela said and Michael smiled.

 

After that his time was up and he thanked the woman as she walked him towards the waiting room. Saying goodbye , Michael grabbed his jacket and walked outside. Tugging his beanie over his head. It was awfully cold today as Michael made his way out of the large building, his mom was on kitten duty which meant she couldn’t leave so he had to walk to his therapist today. It wasn’t that bad since Michael liked the fresh air.

It was cold outside , Michael stuffed his hands deeper into the pockets of his jeans, trying to keep them warm as he walked home. While he was walking home he could hear a car behind him, it was slowing down and it gave him the chills. As the car slowed down next to him, Michael turned his head , being met with the familiar blonde which was quite a relief when he noticed it was just Luke.

“You want a ride?” Luke asked and Michael hesitated before shaking his head “No thanks” Michael said, his voice was soft as he tugged his beanie further down his head to cover his cold ears that were freezing. The temperature had dropped even more and the cold was almost painful , his noise was pinching, the piercing hurting too. “You sure, it’s freezing Michael” Luke said, the dirty blonde cursed underneath his breath as he really liked the way Luke’s smooth voice said his name, his voice was deep and thick yet so smooth. Biting his lip Michael replied “You sure I’m no bother?” not wanting to bother the guy by getting into the car. “Of course not , come on get in I’ll drop you off at home it’s way too cold to be outside right now” Luke said and Michael nodded his head, not feeling the need to protest anymore.

Walking around the shiny black car, it was much more fancy then Michael had expected someone like Luke to own. He carefully opened the door of the car before getting in. “Thank You” Michael said as he sat down in the all leather seats, the car was nice and warm. “No Problem” Luke chuckled before he started to drive again.  
Luke turned the heat up a bit more “You must be freezing” he said and Michael nodded his head while taking off his beanie “It’s cold as fuck outside” he said making Luke let out a small laugh.

Studying the boy, he was wearing a jet black jumped and really tight black skinny jeans. One hand was placed on the steering wheel while the other one was loosely laying in his lap “Where to?” Luke asked and Michael said his address , Luke nodded apparently knowing the street.

It was quiet as Luke drove, Michael focussed on the road in front of them but somehow he caught himself sneakily glancing at Luke in the corners of his mind. The dirty blonde still felt a bit awkward around Luke, this was the guy that was his first kiss for fucks sake. He wondered what Luke was thinking right now, if he was thinking about it too, reliving that night too or if it didn't 

He wondered if Luke thought about it , if it kept him up at night or if it barely even meant something to Luke, if it was just for the game or if he actually liked it. Michael could still remember it, he could still remember the feeling of Luke’s lips against his, how his hands burned holes into his sides as he held him so carefully.   
He could still feel that strange feeling when Luke pulled him into his lap , his fingers slightly grazing his legs and it felt nice, comforting even. Michael couldn’t help but wonder if Luke just did it all because he was drunk or if it had meant more to him than just that, Michael felt confused with his own emotions, he had no clue how he felt about this entire Luke situation, he had just gotten over Chad, it wasn’t hard after his douchebag act at the party.

“You okay?” Luke asked and Michael’s heart skipped a beat, he had totally dozed off, staring at the road in front of him. “Yeah” he mumbled , sitting up a bit straighter in his seat and nodded his head. “You sure, you zoned out a bit ” Luke chuckled and Michael smiled “Yeah I’m sorry, it happens sometimes” the dirty blonde said smiling. “It’s alright” Luke shrugged.

“Why were you out there, aren’t you supposed to still be in school?” Michael shook his head “No I had an appointment somewhere, doesn’t matter” he mumbled while he played with his fingers. The older lad looked at him for a slight second, it was like Luke could feel his discomfort “Hey if somethings wrong you can just tell me, I know that you barely know me but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to listen” He said , giving Michael a small smile. “Thanks” Michael said, the corners of his mouth curling up in a small smile himself.

The dirty blonde had no clue why but somehow he felt comfortable around Luke, it was like Luke gave off some kind of safe feeling, like Luke spread nice vibes wherever he went. Michael even felt a bit sad when Luke turned the corner to his street, not wanting to say goodbye to the tall blonde just yet but he knew he had to when Luke put the car in park and stopped in front of his house.

“Thanks Luke, for driving me” Michael said, a small blush creeping up his face. “No problem” Luke replied, flashing him his perfect white teeth. Michael nodded his head before opening the door but before he could get out he felt Luke’s warm hand on his leg. “Wait” he said and Michael turned back, swallowing the lump that had unnoticeably formed in his throat.

“I never got your number” Luke said, his hand creeping up a bit so that it was placed on his thigh, Michael nodded his head. He could feel the heat of Luke’s hand painfully burning into his skin and he felt nauseous, not the good kind. Michael’s head got dizzy as he tried to control his breathing but he couldn’t help but let out a shaky breath. He couldn’t control how his body reacted and he dug his nails into the palms of his hands trying to calm down as he felt himself shake a bit.  
Luke noticed and took his hand off of the dirty blonde , not knowing what to say but it gave Michael the opportunity to breath normal again , Michael felt guilty he didn’t want to react this way so he quickly nodded his head “Yeah” he said, gulping before giving Luke his number and quickly getting out of the car, he needed to be alone for some time.  
Michael didn’t bother to look back at Luke, not wanting to be met with his face of confusion, Michael was really good at fucking things up. Walking through the front door and hearing Luke speed off , he hung his coat on the rack and took off his converse. He could already smell the food his mother was cooking from afar, walking into the living room he was met with Mittens who was softly sleeping inside of the small play pen his mother had gotten for it. Bending down and running his finger over its soft little head, scratching behind its ears. They’ve had the kitten for three days now, it was usually in its play pen or in Michaels bedroom since there was a small agreement that it was now Michaels cat , he also did most of the work. 

The dirty blonde made sure the kitten was warm enough, they had already put its little pillow next to the heating since they learned from the vet that kittens had to be kept warm the first few weeks after birth. 

Walking into the kitchen Michael smelled the pasta sauce and greeted his mother, sitting down on one of the chairs “How did it go sweetheart?” his mother questioned, turning her back to the stove for a minute as she let the pasta sauce cook. Michael shrugged his shoulders “Surprisingly well” Michael said and his mother nodded her head “I’m glad , she said that the past few weeks you’ve been opening up more” his mother said and Michael nodded his head “Yeah, I feel comfortable talking with her about my feelings now” the dirty blonde replied and his mother smiled.

At first Michael didn’t really want to open up about everything but after a while she cracked him, maybe it was because of the fact that she did believe him and nobody really did except of his family, she made him feel understood and that was what he needed at that moment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Guys! so that was chapter five, what did you guys think of it?   
> Any thoughts about Michael's therapy session? Luke giving Michael a ride or Michael freaking out?   
> Let me know, please feel free to comment and leave kuddos if you liked it!!


	6. Six

It was that night that Michael laid in his bed, watching the brand new episode of Criminal Minds with mittens curled up on his chest. The little kitten had claimed that spot, always wanting to sleep on Michael’s chest or stomach, the kitten had taken a strong liking towards Michael, more than to the rest of Michael’s family.

He had just fed Mittens and now the little guy was passed out on his chest, Michael ran his fingers softly through the tawny fur , it was almost as if the little animal had grown a bit bigger since they found it. He had given up to paying attention towards the episode a couple minutes ago , his mind wouldn’t leave him alone ever since he had gotten home.

Michael felt guilty for reacting the way he did towards Luke, he probably gave Luke the impression that he was doing something wrong when he wasn’t. Michael just didn’t liked to be touched like that. Softly petting the soft fur Michael sighed , looking at the little guy who was peacefully sleeping.

Bringing his gaze back to his laptop and watching as the BAU-team was trying to solve yet another murder, Michael pulled the blankets further up his body ,letting the warmth of the sheets embrace him while he made himself comfortable in his bed. Mittens let out soft breathing noises and Michael could feel it’s little heart beat against his stomach.

Michael smiled , the little guy was becoming his best friend, always wanting to be with him. Every time the small kitten saw Michael he let out small noises that were supposed to be meows and he wouldn’t stop until Michael paid attention to him. He wondered if maybe it had been fate that had put Mittens there on the sidewalk when he passed by.

A beep interrupted his thoughts , not expecting too much from it Michael grabbed his phone. While he noticed that he had an unread message he saw that it was from an unknown number, he had expected it to be Jason sending him a goodnight text seeing that it was kind of late already and he still wasn’t home yet. Curiously Michael opened the message.

**From Unknown Number :  
“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for today, I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable - Luke”**

Michael’s eyes widened, he definitely wasn’t expecting this. He did give Luke his number but he wasn’t expecting to ever contact him again after how he responded in the car. Michael hated himself because Luke was apologizing for something he didn’t even do , it was Michael that just freaked out and he couldn’t do anything about it yet here he was , apologizing. 

Letting his fingers hover above the keys on his phone screen , Michael bit his lips deciding what to text back.

**To Unknown Number :  
“It’s fine, It’s not your fault, I was just overreacting”**

**From Unknown Number :  
“It’s Okay Michael, I clearly made you uncomfortable and I’m sorry for that”**

**To Unknown Number :  
“It’s Fine, honestly don’t worry about it”**

They texted back and forwards after that , talking about their evening Michael even told him about Mittens. They spend the night texting each other and it went great , they were slowly getting to know each other a little bit better and Luke was being incredibly sweet towards him but not in an obvious way so when Luke sent him the next text it completely caught Michael off guard.

**From Luke :  
“I want to see you again Michael”**

It knocked all air out of Michael’s lungs, it was so out of the blue and Michael wasn’t expecting the tall blonde to text him this. Not really sure what to do with it or even what Luke meant exactly he just texted the blonde back.

**To Luke :  
“I want to see you again too”**

It was right after he send that text he got a reply from Luke and It send shivers through his body, but a good kind of shivers.

**From Luke :  
“Let me take you out on Friday”**

**From Luke:  
“I really like you Michael” **

Michael gaped, not really knowing what hit him. Luke was being so nice to him and now he was actually asking him out , straight forwards and it caught Michael off guard, nobody really showed interest in Michael, especially not people like Luke.

Licking his lips and reading the two text over and over again, this was real, Luke had just really asked him out and it made him feel strange inside. A thousand questions were running through his head, should he say yes? What was he going to tell Jason or his parents he couldn’t just leave the house on Friday, they know he has no friends.  
The dirty blonde was stuck, not knowing what to do, he really wanted to go out with Luke, he had been nothing but ridiculously nice to him and now he was showing interest in him , the fact that he was ridiculously hot was also something that made Michael’s stomach twist in a pleasurable way. Michael really wanted to go on this date with Luke so he just replied back that he would love to go out with Luke, the older boy replied saying that he was picking him up at eight on Friday and a goodnight.

The dirty blonde smiled and quickly replied to Luke’s text, wishing the blonde a goodnight before he threw his phone next to him on the bed. Michael looked at the time and noticed it was almost ten already. Groaning he got out of his bed, being careful not to wake up mittens but that was useless since the little guy woke up anyways.  
He carried the kitten downstairs and into the living room where he put it back on its pillow covered in several soft blankets. Checking the heating next to the pillow Michael made sure the temperature was warm enough for the small kitten before saying his goodnight towards Mittens.

Looking around he noticed that his mother was already in bed, turning off the lights Michael walked upstairs again. Closing the curtains before he crawled back into his warm and soft bed, Michael read the texts one more time before closing his phone and made sure it was charging. 

Michael tossed and turned a bit in his bed, his mind drifting towards Luke and that made his stomach turn in a pleasing way again, just thinking about the boy made him smile as he nuzzled his face into his pillow and closed his eyes letting sleep take over him.  
-

When Michael woke up the following morning he actually felt rested, he hadn’t had a nightmare last night and was able to sleep through the entire night but now , when he was at school again he felt exhausted. School mentally drained him and he wanted nothing more than to just go home and go to bed. Luke did sent him a text that made him feel better though.

He had been sitting in the back of his geography class , drawing small doodles in his notebook as the teacher went over the exact same subject as last week. he had been so concentrated on drawing, the tip of his tongue pocking out in concentration and his eyebrows furrowed together as he was trying to just get that damn corner right, in all honesty Michael sucked at drawing , it was just a way to escape the teachers annoying voice. Michael lived for the English language and music, that were the only classes he really felt the need to actually pay attention to, he actually enjoyed learning in those classes. 

Michael had been so concentrated on his awful doodle skills that he was kind of startled when his phone vibrated in the pocket of his black jeans. Slipping his phone out of his pocket and putting it on his desk, his teacher could care less. Michael opened the message and smiled  
From Luke:  
“How about the movies? I’m dying to see deadpool”  
Michael excitingly texted him back saying that he would love to go and see deadpool with Luke and he spent the entire lesson texting the blonde . Maybe texting Luke was a better way to spend his boring life with than doodling 

For some reason the day was less dreading than normal and Michael felt alright while walking through the huge hallways all alone.Hours passed rather quickly and before Michael knew it the school day was over.

When Michael walked through the front door he was met with an empty home, walking into the living room he was greeted by small wailing noises , he looked down to see mittens standing infront of the play pen , immediately feeling better when he saw the little guy. Chuckling Michael greeted the little guy and picked him up “Hey buddy , did you miss me?” Michael said, his voice sounding soft and gentle. Like he had expected the kitten ignored him after that , just wanted to be picked up and paid attention to, Michael knew that he was spoiling the small animal with way to much love but he could care less. 

The dirty blonde’s eyes landed on the living room table where a small note was laying on the table with some money, curiously walking over towards the table he picked up the note

“Working late tonight, you guys can order some pizza with the money. Love mom”  
Mittens started to move around in his arms, signalling that he wanted to be put down so Michael set him down on the ground and smiled as the small kitten immediately started to explore the living room , he may be incredibly small with being just four weeks old he was already an outstanding explored. It was good that his mother had gotten them the small play pen otherwise they would never find the little guy again, he would be too busy exploring the entire house.

Michael let the small kitten roam around the living room for a bit before picking the little kitten up much to Mittens disapproval. Michael sat down on the couch, turning the tv on , letting Mittens nestle into his favourite place out there, Michael’s stomach. 

Jason walked into the living room not long after that, he looked absolutely drained. They both greeted each other before Jason threw himself on the couch and petting Mittens “Rough day?” Michael questioned and Jason groaned “The worst , coach absolutely hated everything I did today” he said groaning and slamming his head into a soft pillow “That sucks” the dirty blonde said, Jason hummed into the pillow in reply before lifting his head up “Where’s mom?” he questioned “Working late, she left us some money to order pizza” The older sibling nodded his head “you hungry yet?”

“ M starving” Michael replied as both of them focussed their gaze on the small kitten who was curiously looking back up at them while he was laying on Michael’s stomach . Jason chuckled , ruffling Michael’s dirty blonde hair and pushing himself up from the couch. “I’ll order some pizza for us then” he said slipping his phone out of his back pocket before disappearing into the hallway where Michael could hear him talk into the phone.

Sighing Michael ran his hands through the thick tawny fur. Jason soon walked back into the living room, throwing his phone on the couch next to Michael and joining him on the couch with a blanket wrapped around himself.

They waited for about twenty minutes before the pizza finally arrived , Jason got up and paid for the pizza with the money that their mom had left for them. Both boys immediately digged into the pizza boxes, Michael takes a bite from his steaming pizza slice, humming in appreciation.

Both boys were about half way through their pizza when Michael decided to speak up “Can I tell you something?” he questioned and Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise but nodded his head anyway.

Putting his slice of pizza down Michael sighed “I got asked out on a date” He stated, watching as Jason stiffened a bit, eyes widening just a fraction and Michael swear he saw his brother flinch when he said it. “That’s” Jason paused for a short moment, swallowing hard before continuing “Great” he said trying to sound enthusiastic but Michael noticed his stiffened posture and the off tone in his voice.

“You don’t like it , do you?” Michael questioned and Jason sighed “Michael I’m happy for you but I also want to be realistic, I don’t want you to get hurt “ The older sibling sighed “I know Jay” Michael said , his voice barely above a whisper “It’s not that I don’t want you to go Michael , I really do want you to find somebody who can love you in ways no one can but I don’t want you getting hurt, are you even mentally ready for a relationship Michael?” 

“I don’t really think this is a good idea Michael” Jason said sighing and Michael sadly looked down at his lap. “Does he even know?” Jason questioned and Michael shook his head , whispering a “No” Jason sighed , putting the pizza box down and rubbing his forehead “How well do you even know this guy?”

“He pierced my nose and I ran into him again at the party , we kinda have been texting ever since” Michael whispered , tears prickling his eyes , Jason was right this was a stupid idea. How well did he even know Luke? How was he going to ever tell Luke ? Could he trust Luke? Michael had no clue and now he realised it he felt so stupid, he had been so caught up in this happy feeling he got whenever Luke texted him.

“Never mind, it’s stupid” Michael whispered getting up “Mikey” Jason said, his voice soft as he tried to comfort the younger boy “Don’t say that” he said pulling Michael Into him and Michael let him “Hey, don’t be sad” Jason whispered , running his hands through Michael’s hear knowing it calmed him down “Listen I don’t know the guy but if he makes you happy then who am I to stop you, Michael I just want you to be careful okay” Michael nodded his head that was buried in his brothers shoulder , letting out a sob. “Mikey” Jason cooed “Please don’t cry” he said tightening his hold around his younger brother. 

“I just wish that I could be like a normal teenager for once, to just go on a date and not have to worry about all of this stuff” Michael said , chest heaving up as he let out a few sobs every now and then. “I’m sorry Michael, I know it’s not fair what happened to you and I know that it will always be a part of you but that doesn’t mean you can’t do things like go on dates , you just have to be extra careful” Jason said “I just want you to be happy Michael, and if you want to go on that date then you go , don’t let everything that happened hold you down because you deserve to be happy Michael” the older sibling said and Michael nodded his head.

Maybe he did not really know Luke but there really was one way to find out more about him and that was by going on this date with him. Even though Michael was still scared he wasn’t going to let that stop him , Luke had been nothing but respectful and nice to him ever since he met him and Michael developed a strong liking for the blonde. 

Michael calmed down eventually and they ended up eating the pizza even though it had gotten cold, Michael knew that life was never going to be easy for him but he knew that he had people around him that cared and would help him to get through everything just like they had gotten him through so much this past half year.


	7. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for not updating sooner guys! but anyways have fun!

Michael groaned as he opened his eyes, the sunlight that was shining through his window was way to bright for Michael’s eyes at this early hour in the morning. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the back of his hand ,his vision got clearer and the blurry spots disappeared. Michael’s eyes settled on the small tawny furred kitten that was laying on the other side of his queen sized bed.

Stretching his arm out he reached for the small kitten, running his fingers through its fur and greeting it. Mittens lifted its head as Michael petted it , letting out a soft purring noise as the younger boy started to scratch behind it’s ears.

Letting his tired eyes scan over his phone screen Michael sighed, it was almost eleven already and he still felt like he had barely slept last night while that wasn’t true at all. Yesterday evening he had been so tired that he just couldn’t keep his eyes open, he was emotionally worn down and he guesses he just needed his sleep. It was just the aftermath of the major panic attack he had suffered from during another session with his therapist, guess she just cut a little bit too deep and Michael imploded into feelings of fear and anxiety.

Sitting up and sighing Michael called the kitten’s name and patted his lap , making the kitten stand up and walk towards him over his bed. Michael welcomed the little ball of fluff and love into his arms, petting it and cuddling it close to him, burying his face into its soft fur. Both of them had become extremely good friends.

Michael’s bedroom door opened and Jason’s head peeped through the door “Oh you’re awake” the dirty blonde nodded his head. “You feeling alright again?” Jason questioned, leaning against the doorframe. Michael nodded his head “Yeah I’m fine now” he replied “Listen I’m going to college and Mom’s at work , call me if you need anything okay?” “Okay” Michael said before nodding his head and Jason nodded his head before saying goodbye and walking out of the dirty blonde’s bedroom.

The young boy sighed, even though Michael usually went to school on Fridays his mother had let him stay home after yesterday’s events. When Michael heard the front door closing he picked up Mittens and decided to walk downstairs to make himself something to eat.

He had spent his entire day in bed and watching criminal minds together with Mittens before finally showering and getting dressed after dinner. Time passed allot quicker than Michael had imagined and when it was almost eight he couldn’t help but sit on his bed , playing with his sweaty hands as the nerves were shaking his body. His mother was out working, of course she knew about the date and even though she wasn’t happy about it she still agreed to letting Michael go out tonight.

He heard the doorbell ring and shot up from his spot, _he was here._ His heart was thudding twice as fast as he walked down the stairs, his legs felt like jelly and breathing suddenly seemed harder than it normally was. Michael never had experienced anything like this and his anxiety was making it worse.

While reaching for the handle of the door ,Michael’s heart was pounding in his chest and his stomach was filled with nerves. Letting out a shaky puff of breath he grabbed a hold of the handle , trying to calm his nerves a bit before opening the door. 

His emerald green eyes were met with the beautiful sight of Luke in front of him, the boy was dressed in black form head to toe, his blonde hair was messily styled and his piercing blue eyes were sparkling brightly in the dark night as he greeted Michael with a smile and a soft ‘Hey’ 

Michael swallowed the lump in his throat offering Luke a nervous smile “Hey” he answered, he couldn’t really comprehend that this was really all happening. “Are you good to go?” Luke asked and Michael nodded his head, not trusting his voice before he stepped out of the hallway. Luke offers Michael his hand and the younger boy shakenly takes it , Luke’s hand is warm and big, they intertwine fingers and Michael closes the door behind him.

Michael follows Luke towards the black car and blushes as Luke opens the door for him, letting go of Luke’s hand and getting in Michael immediately feels the loss of warmth yet his hand’s also burning from Luke’s touch.

It was soon after that when Luke got into the car himself, slipping into the driver’s seat and reaches forward to start the car but before he starts the car he decides against it and turns himself towards the younger boy. “Michael I just , I just wanna apologize for making you feel so uncomfortable, I never wanted you to feel that way” he says sighing “Don’t be it wasn’t your fault Luke” Michael replied softly “You can always tell me if something makes you feel uncomfortable” the blonde said, looking up and down Michael’s fragile frame. “Thank you” Michael said, a smile forming on his lips making some of the anxiousness leave his tense body.

“You okay? , you kinda look like you’re going to pass out” Luke questioned making the dirty blonde laugh and shake his head “I’m fine, just nervous” he replied while shifting in his seat “don’t be nervous ,it’s just me” the blonde said with a soft smile playing on his lips, lips that were very familiar to Michael and he wondered if they would feel just as great as the last time against his own.

Michael nodded his head , shrugging “It’s just that I’ve never been on a date before” Michael whispered but it was loud enough for Luke to hear. Luke smirked, leaning a bit closer towards the dirty blonde “Well Michael, it’s an honour to be your first date ,I’ll try not to screw it up” Luke jokingly said making Michael laugh and shove him away “Shut up Luke” Michael mumbled while his cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

Luke rolled his eyes and starts the car, bringing the engine to life before slowly starting to drive. The drive was short and silent but it was a comfortable silence, Luke somehow just had that vibe around him that everything was going to be okay and it calmed Michael down allot. The movie theatre wasn’t more than a ten minute drive from Michael’s home so it didn’t take long before Luke was pulling up in the parking lot of the theatre and parking his car.

Getting out quickly before Michael could open his door the older boy opened the door for him making Michael roll his eyes but that wouldn’t help him from the blush creeping up on his cheeks and painting them a light pink colour.

Carefully placing his hand at the small of Michael’s back Luke tested the waters , Michael gave him a shy smile signalling that it was okay. He didn’t mind Luke’s touch a bit, he liked it in all honesty it. Luke’s hand was radiating warmth , heating up the skin underneath Michael’s shirt.

Keeping his hand firmly places on Michael’s back as they made their way into the movie theatre , Luke leading Michael towards the ticket booth and paying for them before guiding Michael further into the theatre.

Standing in the row of the food court Luke bent down a little , his hand sliding up Michael’s back a little bit “What do you want?” he questioned, his hot breath hit Michael’s ear and the younger boy felt shivers run down his spine , was he supposed to be feeling like this? Michael swallowed opening his mouth to answer before closing it again. “Just a coke and nacho’s” he replied still a bit flustered, if only Luke knew what kind of effect he had on the younger boy.

After ordering Michael’s order and getting himself a large popcorn and a coke he paid for the food, both boys collected their food , as much as Luke would’ve wanted to carry the food for Michael he just had his hands full. “I could’ve paid for myself ,you know” Michael muttered as they walked away from the food court. “I know” Luke said “Doesn’t mean I’m not going to pay for you” Luke said cocking an eyebrow up, Michael rolled his eyes but thanked him anyways and started walking up the staircase towards an empty spot for them to sit at the back.

Luke smiled before following Michael all the way up to the back where they sat down “I’ve been dying to see this movie” Michael exclaimed happily , missing the fond look that Luke gave him as he was coming a little bit more out of his shell “I know, you mentioned it at least twenty times when you texted me” Luke said rolling his eyes, leaning a little bit closer towards the dirty blonde. “Did not” Michael gasped “I mentioned it like once” he defended himself and Luke rolled his eyes “Sure, if you believe that” the blonde responded and Michael blushed as he realised how close their faces had become, slowly backing away a bit.

“How’s your piercing?” Luke questioned and Michael shrugged “Fine, doesn’t hurt anymore” the dirty haired blonde responded getting a nod from Luke, the older boy studied the piercing before mumbling a “Sit still for a moment I can’t see” Luke’s eyebrows came together as he was trying to get a good look at the piercing. “Stop staring at my face it’s awkward” Michael said looking down at his hands that were resting in his lap.

Michael’s cheeks heartened up as Luke’s fingers softly touched his face, tilting his chin up so he could have a better look at the purple stud that he had himself shot through the younger boy’s nose “It looks good” Luke commented, healed perfectly like I’d expected. Luke said smiling before letting go of Michael’s face. Michael swallowed hard, was it wrong to want the feeling of Luke’s soft touch back? He liked it more than he should.

It was right then that the lights dimmed down and both of them looked at the screen at the same time as the movie was starting making both of them shut up immediately. 

Halfway through the movie Luke suddenly wrapped an arm around the younger boy, Michael was lucky that it was dark inside of here because his entire face was turning bright red at the action, with his heart thudding uncredibly fast in his chest he leaned into Luke’s touch. He closed his eyes for just a small moment, taking in the unfamiliar scent of Luke, he smelled like mint, fresh laundry and strong cologne. To Michael he smelt amazing as crazy as that may sound, opening his eyes again and continuing to watch the movie , Michael had his head rested on Luke’s chest and Luke’s arm wrapped around him tightly.The dirty blonde never thought he would fall for such a cliché move but here he was , heart beating rapidly at the touch of the older boy and he couldn’t help it , only enjoy it and watch the rest of the movie.  


Michael was sad when it was over and they had to move away from each other, Luke stretched himself out as Michael moved away from the older boy , fixing his blonde fringe and pretending that nothing had happened. Michael immediately felt cold from the loss of contact but wouldn’t let it show , just like he wasn’t showing his disappointment at the moment.

Getting up Luke smiled at him and wrapped an arm around Michael’s waist and guiding him out of the movie theatre, making sure to wrap his arm extra tightly around the younger boy when they walked outside in the cold air, wanting him to be as warm as possible.

Luke walked both of them towards the passenger’s side and opened the door of his car again for the dirty blonde, Michael got into the car and Luke closed the door carefully behind the younger boy before walking around the car and quickly getting in himself.

Turning the heat on full blast for both of them to warm up , it was ice cold outside and already late but neither of them cared as Luke started the car and drove towards Michael’s place. On the entire way back both of them talked about the movie, Luke only smiling softly whenever Michael became really excited about his favourite parts in the movie or how much he loved it and that he wanted to watch it again.

It was when the car stopped in front of Michael’s place that the dirty blonde finally realised that they were there, he had been to hyped up about the movie to realise that they were there. Luke got out and walked around the car again to open Michael’s door. Michael let him help him out of the car and walk him all the way up to his front door, shaking his head at how cliché all of this was.

“Luke” Michael whispered, his voice unsteady, his nerves kicking in again. The older boy cut him off “Michael, I had a great time tonight and I would love to see you again soon, like really soon Michael” The dirty blonde was stunned into silence , biting his lip before shaking his head. “You’re so cliché Hemmings” Michael said with an eyeroll but couldn’t help but smile at the tall blonde in front of him “Oh I know” he said before bending down and pecking his cheek making Michael blush, he had been blushing the entire evening around Luke because the older boy had been doing all sorts of small yet meaningful things that made the younger boy feel warm inside.

“But I’m serious Michael” Luke said shaking his head fondly. “I know Luke, I feel the same way” Michael said smiling and doing what he had been wanting to do the entire night , pressing his lips onto Luke’s for a short kiss. He could feel the older boy’s lips curve up into a smile before he pulled away. “Thank you for tonight Luke” he said and Luke smiled down at the dirty blonde “No problem”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So first official Muke date! , they kissed (Again!)  
> Thanks for reading and please comment and leave kuddos , it would mean the world to me!!! Until the next chapter!


	8. Eight

Ever since that night, Luke and Michael have been texting back and forwards every day. Michael just doesn’t seem to put his phone down during the entire week. He was way too busy with constantly texting Luke, the dirty blonde couldn’t stop thinking about him, all his thoughts were _Luke,Luke,Luke,Luke,Luke,Luke,Luke_ and it just wouldn’t stop. Yet with Luke it was the same, he couldn’t get the dirty blonde out of his head and that’s why he had asked him out again for a nice dinner together.

Smiling Michael fixed the sleeves of his dark grey jumper , pulling them just a little bit past his knuckles. It was new and he kind of hoped Luke would like it, he kind of hoped Luke will like him. Taking in a shaky breath he fixed the dirty blonde fringe , running his short fingers through it and combing it into its place.

Grabbing the expensive cologne his parents got him for Christmas he sprayed some of it on himself. Looking at himself in the mirror he sighed, he had no clue what someone like Luke saw in him, he wasn’t that good looking at all. Michael was chubby cheeks , soft pale flesh and thick thighs, he wasn’t exactly what society painted as beautiful. Yet Luke was, Luke was a gorgeous face and luscious blonde hair, eyes blue as the deepest ocean known to man, he was tall with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, he was long strong legs in tight black jeans, his smile was ice melting and his voice was thick and sexy.

Luke was exactly what society painted as beautiful so why was he showing any sign of interest in someone like Michael. Sighing the young boy sat down on his bed and pulled his phone out of his pocket. Mindlessly he started to scroll through the texts that they had sent to each other this morning, Michael smiled at the slightly flirty one’s and shook his head.

There was a knock on his door before the door opened and Jason walked in, he gave Michael a small smile before letting himself fall right next to his younger brother on the bed. “You nervous?” “Yeah” Michael breathed , running his hand through his hair in distress “Don’t be , I’m sure you’ll be just fine just like last time” Michael sighed but nodded his head in agreement, he had survived his first date so this second date should go fine to.

But the thing was, Michael was afraid that maybe Luke would realise just how complicated Michael was or get tired of the dirty blonde already after two dates, what if he would say something wrong that would change his entire opinion of him, what if he totally ruined every single chance he had with Luke.

“Yeah you’re right , I just want this to go right” Michael commented , sighing “Don’t we all want that?” Jason replied, shrugging his shoulders in his lying position on the bed. “Yeah” Michael breathed while looking at his hand _‘but we aren’t all as fucked up as I am’_ Michael thought sadly, tearing his gaze away from his hands. 

“Don’t worry Michael, just be you because that’s what’s important.” Jason noted while sitting up “You don’t want somebody to fall in love with someone that you aren’t because you can’t keep up that act for forever and it will hurt so much more when they leave then” Michael knew that Jason was right, he had seen the way his older brother had moped around after his now ex had left him for somebody else.

“Trust me Michael I know how much that hurts but the truth is sometimes it’s better to watch people go that aren’t going to love you for who you are and find somebody who does” Jason said while wrapping his arms around his younger brother “And he’s crazy if he doesn’t think you’re good enough for him” he said while pulling Michael closer towards him. Both brothers sat like that for a moment in complete silence, Michael was letting Jason’s words really work in on him. Jason was right but he didn’t know how desperately Michael was for someone like Luke, someone that could give him a type of love and affection that no one else could.

After a few minutes Jason left, leaving Michael alone to get ready. Michael slid on his black converse and tied them and looked at himself in the mirror, his black skinny jeans were wrapped tightly around his legs and the grey jumper looked pretty.

Just then Michael’s phone beeped, Luke had texted him that he was on his way. The dirty blonde’s heart started to pick up its pace again, groaning Michael walked downstairs where his mother was standing in front of the stove, preparing dinner.

She smiled at him as soon as her youngest son had caught her eye “You look handsome” she stated, smile permanent on her face. “Thank you mom” he said while subconsciously tugging down the sleeves of his jumper. “I still want to meet him” she said giving him a stern look “I know you will, soon” Michael assured her, knowing she hated not knowing who was taking his son out.

They were interrupted by the door bell, _he was here._ “Be careful Mikey” his mother said sighing and Michael quickly nodded his head and hugged his mother one last time before walking into the hallway and opening the door , being greeted by Luke’s tall figure dressed in his all black attire with that effortless smile he always seemed to wear on him.

Michael’s cheeks heated up as he saw the boy , he cursed at himself for blushing already but he couldn’t help it. “Hey” Michael breathed, greeting the blonde boy in front of him. Luke pressed a short kiss to his cheek as greeting and only now Michael realised how much he had missed those plump lips and lowly craved them against his again. “Hi” Luke replied.

The young boy furiously blushed at the action, swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat and trying to contain his heart from beating out of his chest, he swore it was beating so fast and loud that Luke could hear it.

Without saying another word Michael closed the door behind him , awkwardly playing with his fingers , and Luke took that as a cue to flash the younger boy a smile “U ready?” he questioned and Michael nodded his head quickly before giving Luke a nervous smile before letting the tall blonde softly place a hand on the small of his back and guide him towards his black car.

Usually Michael hated it when people touched him , he only let two other people touch him yet here he was , actually enjoying the way Luke would carefully place his hands on his body, enjoying the warm and burning sensation he felt wherever Luke placed his hands. 

Opening the car door for the dirty blonde, Luke let Michael slip into his car before closing the door behind him and walking around his car to get into the passenger’s seat. Luke started the car and started to drive towards the restaurant.

The sun had already set and it was starting to get a bit dark outside as they drove down the road, the street lamps were on already, illuminating Luke’s face in the most beautiful ways possible, long lashes, high cheekbones and sharp jawline defined by the soft yellow light of the street lamps. Their small talk and the soft hum of the radio were the only sounds heard as they made their way towards their date.

Helping the boy out of the car and softly grabbing his hand before closing the car door behind him, Luke lead the way towards the restaurant. It was cold and Michael really wished he had brought a jacket with him but neither had Luke, Michael shivered as the cold wind hit him yet Luke seemed to be just fine while he walked next to him.

When Luke had offered him to take him out for dinner Michael had made the older boy promise him that he wouldn’t force him into a fancy restaurant ,surrounded by middle-aged couples looking down on them , he was to awkward for that and his anxiety would be out of control.

So he was really relieved when Luke opened the door for him and he was immediately greeted with the delicious smell of pizza hitting his senses. Michael trailed behind the older boy, enjoying his hand in Luke’s warm and big one as he followed Luke to a table at the back of the shop. 

Letting Michael slide into a chair, Luke walked around the table and sat down himself. Michael wanted to make a comment about how the older boy was trying way to hard but bit his tongue as he realised that he really liked Luke’s gentleman manners , more than he should. 

Within a few minutes a waitress came down to their table and took their order, both ordering a pizza and Michael swears he saw Luke give him a weird look when he ordered pineapples on his pizza yet he decided not to comment on it, better said Michael’s nerves decided to not comment on it.

With their dinner in the make Luke broke the small talk “I really hoped you liked pizza, I really didn’t know where to go” “I love pizza” Michael chuckled “It’s perfect Luke” _you’re perfect Luke_ he thought but he pushed the thought into the back of his mind and just enjoyed the smile Luke gave him “Then I’m glad that I decided on this place, they make the best pizza I’ve ever tasted” Luke stated “We’ll have to see about that” the dirty blonde commented. 

“I’m sorry if I ruined your plans, I just really hate fancy restaurants” Michael said, his voice allot softer than just a few seconds ago “It’s alright Michael, I hate them too” Luke said with a shrug of his shoulders and Michael’s lips curled into a small smile , he had worried that the blonde would’ve felt offended when he texted him that he really hated fancy restaurants and he had to cancel their plans but he wasn’t and Michael was glad.

“So I’m still confused how you ended up in that basement” Luke stated with a smile, the blonde had been more than glad to see Michael back there but Michael didn’t know that. “Zack normally doesn’t often bring new people” Luke said and Michael shrugged his shoulders “His little brother was being a dick and he offered if I wanted to come downstairs with them to chill” 

“Yeah Chad is a real pain in the ass” Luke sighed but chuckled “How long have you and Zack known each other then?” Michael questioned as Luke took a sip of his water “About two years, a little bit more I guess. We met at college” _fuck college_ , Michael was still in high school. “That’s nice” Michael commented and Luke nodded adding a ‘yeah’

“So Michael, any hobbies?” Luke questioned casually as he took another sip of his water “Does sleeping and netflixing count as hobbies?” Michael questioned and Luke chuckled softly. The dirty blonde jumped a bit in his seat as he felt Luke’s foot softly touch his leg, just brushing it off as an accident Michael continued talking “I don’t really use the house often” 

But right after that Michael felt Luke’s foot trail up over his leg and Michael was sure that his face had just gone completely red. Michael felt cold and unpleasing shivers go down his spine and he quickly moved his leg away, biting down on his lip before speaking “Do you have any hobbies”? Michael didn’t miss the slight look of hurt cross Luke’s beautiful features and he immediately felt guilty for turning Luke down like that. Luckily the blonde quickly continued the conversation, answering the question Michael had asked him.

Luke had taken Michael out for the second time now and the first time was fun, he liked the casual date but tonight he wanted to get to know the dirty haired blonde who was sitting across from him a little bit more. Luke had allot of questions but he could only get a couple out before their pizza arrived and both of them quit the ‘getting to know each other better’ talk and started eating, casually commenting on how good it tasted.

Things were going good, things were going really good but of course because this is Michael’s life things never something had to ruin everything for him. They were just halfway through their date, munching on some delicious pizza, Luke was right this was the best pizza Michael had ever tasted in his entire life, when suddenly the little bell above the door changed and of course the one person to walk through that door on a random Friday evening was Chad. 

Michael quickly averted his eyes from the door but it had been too late and Chad had already spotted the pair sitting in the far corner of the pizza place. Michael looked down at his pizza but he didn’t miss the way Chad walked towards their table, stopping right at their table “Michael , fancy seeing you here” he said before turning towards Luke “On a date Lukey?” he questioned “Did you really stoop that low?” 

Michael made himself look smaller, staring down at the table , why did Chad have to ruin everything ? hadn’t he done enough damage already? Luke shot Chad a glare “Fuck off Chad , didn’t your mom put you on a lockdown after she found out after your oh so amazing party? “ Luke commented with an eyeroll “And leave him out of this” he added.

Chad chuckled unfazed by it, he just chuckled and it creeped Michael out. “Oh Lukey, always so nice with his words, yet you’re here with the town’s whore” he commented casually and Michael felt his entire world fall apart, he wanted to run but he was glued to his seat. Luke opened his mouth to defend the dirty blonde but Chad didn’t even give him a chance “I need to say you moved on rather quickly Mikey, just two weeks ago you almost threw yourself at my dick”

“That’s not true” Michael defended himself “Says who? Mikey everybody knows you’re a lying whore” Chad shot back with a stern look, he obviously was still extremely mad for what happened at the party.“Chad enough, leave him the fuck alone before I’ll reconstruct your face” Luke growled ,his voice a few tones lower than normal, his eyes shooting straight fire at the younger boy. 

“You didn’t tell him did you?” Chad said , keeping his gaze locked on Michael and completely tuning Luke out “Of course you didn’t, why would you” the boy said tutting his lips and shaking his head “Tell me what?” Luke questioned confused.

“Did you know that your little love affair here actually is only 17? Yeah fake ID’s get you a long way but somehow you gotta tell the truth now don’t ya Michael?” Chad said and Luke watched as the dirty blonde just continued to stare at his lap “Michael is that true?” the boy didn’t respond “Michael?” Luke said, this time a bit harder and more demanding. Luke didn’t miss the nod of Michael’s head and he silently cursed , great not only did he illegally pierce the boy he also had been lying about his age. “I’m sorry” Michael whispered and Luke sighed , he wasn’t that mad , just a bit disappointed.

“Oh but Lukey, that’s where the fun part only begins, did you tell him yet Mikey?” Chad questioned and Michael knew what was coming, this was the reason his entire life had been a hell for the past half year. It stayed silent and Luke had no clue whether he wanted to know or not “Come on Mikey tell him, he deserves to know don’t you think?” Chad pressed but Michael didn’t move , just prayed that the boy would just leave him alone but he wouldn’t , he was going to ruin every single chance Michael would ever have with Luke.

“Mikey here used to have the hots for his physics teacher last year, lucky guy he was ended up fucking him in the process” Chad said with a devilish smirk seeing the way Luke’s eyes widened as he stared at the dirty blonde in complete and utter shock. “Well my work is done here I guess, have a nice date” Chad said before turning around to leave with a smile on his face.

“Michael, is that true?” Luke whispered , still not completely sure what just happened “Michael?” the older boy questioned as the dirty blonde wasn’t showing any sign of responds at all “Michael!” Luke said a bit harsher this time “Please tell me that isn’t true” but the silence was all Luke needed to know that it was in fact true, it wasn’t a lie and suddenly Luke got up “Unbelievable” he said as he shook his head and took his wallet out “That’s fucking disgusting” he spat , missing the single tear that had finally fallen from Michael’s eye, Luke didn’t know that Michael had been trying to control his tears for way to long now.

Luke threw some cash on the table that would cover for their dinner “Don’t even bother to contact me” the blonde said before making his way towards the exit of the pizza place, and that’s when Michael let out a quiet sob for the first time.

Michael was left sitting at the table , he was a joke for everybody to watch, he basically just got sort of dumped by Luke. He quickly gets up , Luke was long gone and he knew that he wanted nothing to do with it. 

Walking outside Michael had noticed that it had started to rain, just fucking fantastic, it was dark ,cold, he just got fucking embarrassed in a pizza restaurant and now it was raining. To ashamed to call up Jason from wherever he was tonight he decided to walk home. Letting tear after tear fall, Michael sobs , rubbing harshly at his eyes, this was all his fault. He hates his life and he keeps getting reminded that he just can’t live a normal life ever again and it wasn’t fair, he never asked for any of this. Sobbing and wrapping his arms around himself in a self-hugging manner he shook his head ,Why did nobody ever believe him when he say that he never wanted it.

When Michael finally arrived home he was completely drenched from the rain and his face was flushed and full of dried tear tracks. He wanted to sneak towards his bedroom but he could already hear the sound of his mother’s heels clicking against the wooden floors “Michael baby is that you?” she yelled and Michael could feel his eyes water again, he couldn’t reply because his throath was all closed up and he was sure that if he tried he would break down in sobs all over again.

Karen walked into the hallway and a look of sadness washed over her features as she saw her youngest son standing completely drenched in the hallway with red eyes from crying. “Oh honey” she whispered and Michael just let the tears fall again as his mother engulfed him into a hug “It’s okay” she whispered , even though she was wearing heels she was still a bit shorter than her son so Michael had to bend down a little bit.

“He found out mom, he hates me now” was all Michael said and his mother immediately knew what that meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So i hoped you guys liked it, now you finally know what happened to Mikey.  
> Thoughts on this chapter? 
> 
> I love you guys all so much , please comment and leave kuddos.


	9. Nine

Fixing the sleeves of his black sweater, Michael stared at the small building where all of this started. Just a few weeks ago he walked in here with a fake ID and his shoulders held high, now he stood in front of the same window only with teary eyes and slumped shoulders.

He had never wanted any of this to happen , yet it did and now Michael was left to clean up his own mess. He wasn’t sure why he was here but he hoped to see Luke again and talk to him about everything, he wanted to explain himself , apologize for lying towards him because he truly felt sorry. He never should’ve lied towards him in the first place but he was so scared of telling the truth and losing the only boy to ever show interest in him but in the end he still did and in a way more painful way.

Chad had exposed him right in front of the tall blonde, he had cut him open and bare and then left him there to bleed. The worst thing was that Chad had lied towards Luke but who was Michael to criticize when he lied to Luke about his age himself .

When Michael arrived home that night, soaked by the rain and his own tears his mother had been so sad and disappointed but she still held him as he cried before going to bed and crying himself to sleep. He had cried for the entire weekend and he just couldn’t take it anymore, he was desperate to see the blonde boy , he had to talk to him.

Sighing Michael stared at the window, he could see Luke standing behind the counter, working. He knew Luke hated him now and would probably never want to see his face again yet here he was, he needed to apologize. Taking in a very shaky breath Michael pushes open the door of the tattoo parlour, the bell above his head dinged making the blonde’s head snap up. When Luke’s eyes caught sight of Michael he rolled his eyes and ignores the dirty blonde, continuing his work.

Luke’s actions hurt Michael and Luke could see but the younger boys actions also hurt Luke , he felt lied to and embarrassed when he found out everything through Chad “Can we please talk” Michael said , his voice was barely above a whisper, not trusting his voice anymore since he had been crying ever since he got back that Friday night. “What is there to talk about” Luke said , his voice was harsh and Michael made himself look even smaller while he stared at the ground.

Swallowing the lump in his throat Michael spoke up with his voice shaking “Please don’t be like this, I can explain , please Luke!” the dirty blonde was practically begging right now yet Luke just laughs and shakes his head “What do you want to explain Michael? That you banged your 40 year old teacher?” Luke said, his tone was so harsh and Michael really tried to hold all of his tears in “You know, I really liked you Michael but I just can’t , Please just leave” Luke said shaking his head.

Michael didn’t know that Luke had barely slept that Friday night, he laid awake , hating himself for developing feelings for someone like Michael, somebody that was just lying straight to his face the entire time and it hurt, it cut Luke deep too.

“Luke please don’t “ Michael said , he wasn’t giving two shits about the fact that he now had tears streaming down his face “I can explain, I just wanna talk ,please Luke” Michael begged desperately , not bothering to even try to wipe the tears away.

“I SAID LEAVE!” Luke screamed, he was furious and he just wanted Michael to leave him the hell alone, he had done enough damage and Luke just wanted him to stop this , he had been beating himself mentally for falling for somebody that did nothing but lie and hide things from the moment they had met, literally.

There was a small silence around the boys, Michael is silently crying and Luke’s heavily panting, he looked so angry. The dirty blonde just let the tears roll down his face as he wraps his arms around himself, he was never good at these kind of situations, he hated it when people yelled at him it made him feel small and anxious, it made him scared and he wanted to just disappear.

“I didn’t want it” Michael said through a sob, deciding to be the one to cut the silence “He forced me” he added , tightening his hold around himself before looking down at the floor sadly and shaking his head “I’m sorry, for everything” Michael whispered before turning around and leaving but Luke’s legs moved out of their own and suddenly he had Michael’s wrist in his hands.

Michael turned around at the sudden contact, eyes going from Luke’s large hand over his wrist to the blonde’s face that had an unreadable expression written across it. “Is that true?” Luke whispers but Michael doesn’t answer and looks at the floor again , how was Luke ever going to believe him when all he did was lie. “Michael” Luke tried again, his voice suddenly sounded so soft instead of the harsh tone that he had used several seconds ago when he yelled at Michael to leave.

The dirty blonde just continued to look at the floor, too ashamed of himself to look up at Luke, the taller boy leans down a bit and places his index and middle finger underneath Michael’s chin , forcing the boy to look up “Michael did he _rape_ you?”   
Michael just couldn’t hold himself together anymore as Luke dropped the word, Michael started to heavily sob and it was kind of the answer for Luke, nobody could fake this emotion. It explained Michael panicking and freezing when Luke touched him that day when he brought him home and when he tried to slide his foot over the younger boy’s leg in order to flirt.

Luke wrapped his arms around Michael, embracing the boy in his arms tightly. The blonde looked around the empty store and decided to move them in case of somebody entering “Come on, let’s talk somewhere more private Michael” Luke said , his voice soothing as he softly ran his hand over the younger boy’s back in a comforting way.   
Lifting the dirty blonde up , Michael wasn’t even protesting, clinging onto Luke and wrapping his legs around the older boy. He needed the comfort Luke was giving him so badly right now, needed something or somebody to hold him closely, he grabbed a tight hold onto Luke’s shirt and buried his face in it, dampening it from the still falling tears.

Luke brought Michael towards a room in the back of the shop, the break room. Luke sat down with Michael still clinging onto him on a sofa. The boy was still sobbing into his shoulder and wasn’t letting go of him any time soon, Luke had never actually seen this kind of emotion in real life. Michael was sniffing and saying that he was sorry on repeat but Luke couldn’t blame him, he felt his heart breaking just looking at the sight that Michael was.

It took Luke several minutes to calm Michael down, softly stroking his back, telling him he was going to be alright and running his hands through his hair in a calming manner. When Michael finally pulls away he sniffels and wipes underneath his eyes with the back of his sleeve, mumbling a sorry as he see’s the wet spots on Luke’s black t-shirt that he had created by crying. Michael felt ashamed, he never wanted to break down like this , he just couldn’t control his emotions ever since it happened, he suffered from panic attacks and anxiety since and had been diagnosed with depression.

Luke cupped Michael’s cheeks softly, wiping the tears underneath the boys eyes away in something that could only be described as a loving manner. “Don’t be sorry ,I should be the one to be sorry , god if I knew Mikey, I wouldn’t have, I-I would’ve -”

“It’s okay, you didn’t know” Michael whispered, his voice sounded wrecked from all the crying he had done and it made Luke feel so much more guiltier, he shouldn’t have left Michael like that, he shouldn’t have insulted him like he did, is only he had known then what he knows now.

Michael sniffled, he could feel Luke rubbing reassuring circles into his hip “I swear if I knew Michael, I” Luke just didn’t know what to say anymore, this whole situation had left him speechless, he still couldn’t comprehend that someone had robbed Michael from his innocence in such a horrendous way. “It’s okay, nobody really believed me anyways, you couldn’t know” Michael whispered , bottom lip quivering “I believe you” Luke stated, god Luke had no doubt in his mind that Michael was lying about this “How can you believe me when all I ever did was lie to you” Michael said, wiping underneath his nose and sniffling.

“The only thing you really lied about was your age Michael, I’m not happy about that but it’s okay, we all lie about such things at one point in our life, I just overreacted when I found out what Chad told me but now I know that what he told me was nothing but a complete lie, I believe you because I know for a fact that you can’t fake these kind of emotions Michael”

Michael didn’t know how that made him feel, nobody beside of his family and therapist had ever believed him when he told them that he was raped, nobody. Looking down Michael noticed in what kind of position he actually was now. He was straddling Luke and normally he would’ve freaked out but somehow he didn’t have the energy anymore to do , or he just trusted Luke he really didn’t know, his eyes were burning and his head was hurting and the only thing he wanted to do was crawl in his bed and sleep.

“Thank you” Michael whispered, tears building up in his eyes again but this time they were happy tears, somebody actually believed , _Luke believed him._ “There is no need to thank me Michael” Luke said with a soft smile , softly cupping Michael’s face and pressing a loving kiss to the boy’s forehead “ I promise that I will always believe you no matter what other people say” Luke said making Michael crack a tired smile “Thank you” he said , Luke had no clue what his promise meant to the dirty blonde.

“I’m sorry for lying, I won’t do it again” Michael said softly making Luke chuckle “It’s okay Michael, don’t worry about it too much okay?” The dirty blonde nodded and whispered “Okay” back before slowly leaning in and hugging Luke , he had no clue where this boy had come from because honestly he was way too good for this world and Michael had no clue why he was showing any interest in him but he was more than okay with it. 

Luke, much to Michael’s dismay, detached himself for the boy but only stood up to give the younger boy a glass of water “Here” he said as he handed the dirty blonde the cold glass of water “Thanks” Michael mumbled before quickly taking a few sips. “Are you cold?” Luke questioned and Michael didn’t have the energy to lie about it and tell Luke that he was fine so he nodded his hand and Luke handed the boy his zip up hoodie. Michael was immediately welcomed with Luke’s scent and warmth as he put it on.   
“Do you want to talk about it? What happened?” Luke questioned, he hated himself for being curious but that was just human nature. “You don’t have to” he quickly added but Michael shook his head “No it’s alright, you kind of deserve to know” Michael said while staring at his hands.

“It all kind of started a year ago, it’s when my parents got a divorce” Michael said sadly “My dad wasn’t a really good man, he never hit me or touched me in a wrong way but he also never was a good father for me, he was never there for any of us. When my mom found out that he had been having an affair she immediately wanted a divorce and he couldn’t be bothered to fight it so they got divorced but it meant that suddenly my mom had to start looking for a job and with my brother in his first year of college meant that I suddenly went from a very welcoming and busy family home to being all alone until the evening” Michael said sighing.

“It sucked but who was I to complain, my physics teacher noticed my lack of motivation and my dropping grades so he questioned me about it and I just ended up cracking” Michael said , Luke could see the dirty blonde’s eyes glossing up again so he carefully pulled Michael into a hugging position. 

“Every week I would stop by and we’d talk, sometimes about the material that I didn’t understand and sometimes about my personal life, how everything was going. I kind of felt happy with the extra attention that my teacher gave me, not In a wrong way, I just craved a bit of attention but I was so naïve to take it as only something friendly. It started with small touches that barely went unnoticed, him just touching my shoulder like anyone did really but he started to touch me way more intimate along the way but I was so stupid and naïve to think of it as nothing. I was proven wrong when one day he slid his hand up my thigh and I freaked out a bit because as naïve as I was I knew that teachers weren’t supposed to do that , no matter how close you are with one.”

Michael paused for a moment, taking In a shaky breath and Luke just held him closer as he knew what was coming “I freaked out but he didn’t stop, fuck Luke he started to feel me up and I felt disgusting, I told him to stop , he wouldn’t , he just- . I wanted to throw up at that moment but he just continued to touch me and I felt so dirty, he pushed me onto a table and I pleaded him to stop , I begged him , I was so scared.”

Luke wasn’t liking at all how Michael was getting worked up about this. His fists were balled up , fuck did he wish he had been there , nobody deserved to be put in that situation, nobody. “He undressed me while I cried and begged him to stop, he tried to silence me but I just kept on screaming for help , nobody heard me. He raped me, it was painful and I felt so embarrassed and powerless , I cried my way through.” Michael whispered.

“When he was done , he just left me there, zipped up his pants and left me lying on a table and bleeding. I remember showering for two hours when I got home, I scrubbed every inch of my body but I couldn’t get rid of the touch of his gross hands feeling me up and holding me down while he raped me. My mother she immediately noticed that something was wrong but I was too embarrassed to tell her, she wouldn’t give up so I ended up telling her and she was mad, she immediately called the school board but they didn’t really do much about it , she called the police but my teacher, he said that we had been having a relationship behind closed doors and that I only was saying that he raped me because we got into a fight.”

“I was sixteen so it was legal , teachers and other students had seen me talk to him after school , backing up his story so they settled with just firing the teacher for having a relationship with one of his students instead of listening to me, they rather not harm their reputation because there was no way that a teacher would rape someone. The story of me pressing charges got out, everybody knew why my teacher had to leave the school by police , but they thought that it was for having a relationship with a minor instead of rape so I got seen as the school slut who fucked a teacher but in reality I never asked for it, I cried my way through it and I wished it never happened but it did and I hate it.” Michael finished, leaving Luke speechless.

How could someone ever just deny something as serious as rape, no matter who it was. “Michael I-“ Luke shook his head , he really needed to process this “I’m so sorry” Luke whispered “Nobody deserves that” he said while clutching Michael close to his own body “Is he behind bars now?” Luke questioned but Michael shook his head sadly making Luke curse “Fucking hell, he’s still out there?” and Michael nodded his head “The school backed up his story , we needed real prove that he actually raped me , it was my word against the schools , I had no power” Michael said sighing and Luke shook his head , if he would ever come across this man he would make sure that he didn’t have fingers anymore to touch anybody.

“I will do whatever I can to never let anything happen to you okay?” Luke promised and Michael smiled and nodded his head “Okay” Luke let Michael snuggle into his side as they sat on the couch, he was beyond mad, how could anyone do something so horrible, how can you enjoy something like sex when the person underneath you is crying the entire time. How could people be capable of something so horrible.

Luke could see that Michael was trying not to fall asleep , he must’ve been exhausted after all of this “Do you want me to drive you home?” The blonde boy questioned but Michael shook his head “You don’t have to” Luke sighed at Michael’s stubbornness “Michael do you need a ride home, just tell me“ The younger boy eventually nods his head making Luke smile , cupping the boys round cheeks he leans in a bit but doesn’t kiss him, instead when their lips are barely inches apart he questions “Can I kiss you?” and Michael let’s out a shaky breath and nods his head in Luke’s hands , whispering a “Yes” because he wants to feel Luke’s lips against his own , it had been forever.

Luke closed the gap between them, softly pressing their lips together and Michael almost melts into the kiss, it was soft and slow , sweet and comforting and everything he needed. It wasn’t a long kiss much to Michael’s dismay but he was really glad to have felt Luke’s lips against his own after an entire week.

When they pull away Luke pecks Michael’s nose and tells him that he’s right back , grabbing his stuff before returning and walking out of the shop with Michael, closing the parlour behind him. Normally he would’ve been there with Calum but the boy had caught a flew so he had to cancel all his appointments.

Luke drives Michael home, the route towards the younger boy’s house was already imprinted into his brain like the route to his own. The older boy couldn’t help but smile as he noticed the dirty blonde besides him trying really hard not to close his eyes and fall asleep, yeah he was definitely falling for the boy with the broken soul but he was not afraid at all to help him glue back the pieces one by one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's a crying mess? i know i am!  
> So now everybody finally knows Michael's story (but not Luke's)  
> thoughts on Michael's story ?  
> On them being close again? Luke believing Michael? Luke giving Michael his hoodie?   
> And thoughts on the story itself ? let me know.
> 
> Please comments and leave kuddo's , it means so much to me!!!  
> I will catch you guys later xx


	10. Ten

Michael opened his tired and heavy eyes as he felt a hand being placed on his shoulder, the sunlight that was shining through his window and lighting up his bedroom was so bright that it was giving him a headache. Blinking a few times his eyes focussed on his mother who was sitting on the edge of his bed with the hand softly placed on his shoulder “

“What time is it?” Michael asked, his head was hurting from his previous panic attack and his entire body felt numb and heavy. He couldn’t do allot about them but they always left him as one big mess, He was glad that Luke had actually calmed him down , he was glad that Luke was there to hold on to even though he knew the boy hated him for what he had done. 

“It’s around seven, are you hungry?” His mother quizzed and Michael nodded his head, pushing himself up and rubbing with the palm of his hands through his tired eyes. “Come on then , I made some pasta” she said with a warm smile before getting up and leaving the room. Michael pushes the blankets off of his body, the cold air made him tighten Luke’s zip up hoodie around his body. Quickly grabbing some sweatpants and switching Luke’s zip up hoodie for one of his own sweaters.

He immediately missed the warmth of the blue eyed boys hoodie but he couldn’t just go down in it, his mother would question him and he didn’t know if he was ready to answer all of them but he also knew he had to talk with her about what happened today.

Michael’s sock clad feet softly padded against the wooden staircase, he walked into the living room, stopping next to Mittens play pen for a minute to admire the peacefully sleeping kitten, it had completely accepted this place as her home and Michael wondered what it was thinking sometimes, would it remember the horrible feeling of almost starving to death ? 

Sighing , the dirty haired blonde made his way into the kitchen where his mother was stirring a wooden spoon into a pan with pasta sauce. Michael smiled, she knew that Michael loved pasta and she would always make it whenever he was feeling down knowingly that it was the only thing that he would actually want to eat when he felt that way.

Sometimes Michael felt guilty, she was the best mother imaginable and would do everything for him and Jayson even though that she was a single and working mother. Yet Michael caused her to worry so much and he hated it , he didn’t want her to always be worried about him but he couldn’t do anything about it. He just was very fragile ,even half a year later after it happened, he made her pay for expensive therapy sessions just because he got himself into that situation and that made him feel guilty and sometimes he wishes he could be like his brother, strong.

Michael thanked his mother as she gave him some dinner and sat across from him at the table. They both ate in silence. Michael actually felt hungry for the first time since the whole incident on Friday and he found himself enjoying the pasta more than ever.

It was after both his mother and the dirty blonde had finished their dinner and were still sitting at the dinner table that Michael decided to break the news. Fumbling with his fingers that were laying in his lap ,underneath the table, the dirty blonde sighed before speaking up “Mom I need to tell you something” he stated making his mother raise her eyebrow in surprise but she also told him to go on.

“I visited Luke today, we talked “ He whispered, he had no clue how his mother was going to react , to say his mother was shocked was an understatement “I know I shouldn’t have left home without telling you but I just needed to get some things off of my chest” Michael whispered, digging his nails into the palm of his hands . Karen sighed, shaking her head “Michael ,honey, you know that I hate it when you do that” she said “I know and I’m sorry” the dirty blonde said “I’m sorry I didn’t wanted to disappoint you but I just needed to talk to him”

“I’m not disappointed in you Michael” Karen sighed “Why did you talk to him?” she wondered “He deserved to know the truth and I just, I don’t know” Michael said sadly ,looking down at his hands again “How did he take it?” she quizzed and Michael shrugged “Really good, we talked about it and he told me he believed me” he said while playing with his fingers, he hated looking at people when he talked about things like his feelings.

“So you two are good now? “ she questioned and Michael nodded his head and looked up at her, she was taking this surprisingly good “You really like him don’t you?” his mother quizzed and Michael nodded his head “Yeah” he whispered , a smile creeping up on his face as he just thought about the boy. “He’s just really sweet” Michael said shrugging , missing the smile of adoration that was written over his mother’s face. Karen nodded her head “Good, he better is Michael” she said while crossing her arms over each other.

“I’m fine with you seeing him but I want to meet him for dinner very soon Michael” Karen added making Michael smile “I want to meet him before this becomes serious “ she said sighing, she knew how happy her son was after their first date and she wanted Michael to always be that happy but she was also worried about her youngest dating somebody only half a year after it happened, she was afraid that Michael would feel pressured to do some things or that he would be heartbroken if something would cause them t break up and make his situation even worse .

“Yeah sure I will invite him” he said nodding his head eagerly , there was a smile written across his face and it made Karen feel good to see her son smiling so bright but she also saw what the exact opposite what the boy could do to Michael the entire weekend. “Who are we inviting?” Jason said as he walked through the front door and dropped his heavy football bag before walking into the kitchen and letting himself slide in the chair next to his little brother.

“Luke” Karen replied before getting up and warming the dinner she put on a plate for her oldest son “Thought you two were done after what I heard Friday happened” he questioned watching as the dirty blonde shrugged. “We talked today” Michael whispered and Jason shot his mother a questionable look almost if he was asking her if she knew about it but she just shrugged. 

Jayson thanked his mother as she handed him the plate and dug into the pasta. Karen walked out of the kitchen and into the living room, the sound of the TV filled the kitchen. “So you guys talked” Jay quizzed and Michael hummed , nodding his head “Yeah I went towards the tattoo parlour and we talked, I ended up telling him everything” Michael said softly , wrapping his arms around himself.  
Jason stopped eating for a second , a small “Oh” leaving his mouth as he realised what Michael was hinting at “How did he respond?” the older sibling asked “Better than I expected , he took it all very well” the dirty blonde said “He helped me through a panic attack and after I explained everything to him and he actually believed me, nobody ever does” he added with a sad smile.

Jason smiled “I’m glad that you two talked it through, at least he knows now” the older boy said “Yeah” Michael nodded his head, he was glad that Luke believed him and that he knew about everything. Now he doesn’t have to feel sorry whenever he hurts Luke because he flinches away from his touch, at least he now knows that it has nothing to do with him and Michael’s glad. He could still see the look of hurt flashing over the blonde’s face after he flinched away from his touch Friday, he felt so guilty and he wouldn’t have known what to do if Luke hadn’t covered up his hurt so quickly. It was not that Michael hated to be touched, he just didn’t like being touched in certain ways because it brought back memories. 

The dirty blonde decided to join his mother and Jason on the couch for some time, watching some soap opera with Mittens laying peacefully inside of his lap. It was unbelievable how much the little kitten had already grown, they still had to bottle feed it but she now could walk perfectly fine without falling on her butt and she was already starting to meow which was quite early.

After a few hours Michael decided to go to bed, saying goodnight to his family and putting Mittens in her play pen , the dirty blonde walked upstairs. Changing out of his sweatpants and sweater and into his underwear and Luke’s hoodie, maybe it was a little bit wrong to sleep with it but Michael couldn’t care less because it smelled like the boy and it calmed him down and it made him fall asleep with a smile on his face and dream very pleasant things about a certain blonde haired boy.  
\--  
To say Michael had a good night rest was an understatement, he hadn’t slept this good in a long time, but it had nothing to do with the blink-182 hoodie that he was wearing that smelled like strong perfume and man, absolutely not.

The dirty blonde had spent his morning inside of his bed, only going downstairs to get himself some breakfast , even though it was eleven when he woke up , and get Mittens. He was always carrying the thing around whenever he was home, always keeping it close and smoldering it with attention and love, it was easily the most spoiled kitten out there but Michael couldn’t care less he had grown immensely fond of the little fur ball and it had become his best friend.

Spending the entire morning in bed, watching criminal minds was amazing but even though his mother had let him stay home today, he still had a therapy session to attend. Whether he liked it or not he had to drag his ass out of bed and take a shower and get dressed at some point. Groaning and getting up , Michael left the kitten on his bed, making sure that the window and door were closed of course before making his way into the bathroom and turning on the shower.  
Letting the water pour out of the shower head , letting it warm up until the temperature was pleasant before undressing and getting underneath the warm water. Washing himself while humming along to the tune of Dear Maria Count Me In Michael got cleaned up.

The room was slightly foggy as Michael stepped out of the shower, the mirror hanging directly in front of him giving him an immediate glance at his pale flesh that was now flushed red from the warm water. Drying himself off with a towel and putting on a new pair of underwear before walking back into his room where he opens his closet and pulls out a white t-shirt and his favourite black skinny jeans. Slipping them over his body he hears his phone start to ring, the loud noise startling the sleeping kitten.  
Michael curses underneath his breath as he walks over towards his bed and picks up the small device, answering the call. “Hello?” Michael questioned, he hadn’t checked the caller ID so he had no clue who it could be, the only person who would call him were either his mother or Jay. “Afternoon _, Babe_ ” 

_“Luke”_ Michael breathed, he had been the last one the dirty blonde expected to call, yet here he was. “Yeah that’s me” Luke replied from the other side of the line making Michael chuckle and himself fall onto the bed “Shut up Luke” the younger boy groaned, rolling his eyes as he could hear the other boy laugh at him. Michael couldn’t help but smile as he heard the sound escape Luke’s lips , glad Luke couldn’t see him grinning like a fool right now. 

“How have you been holding up?” The older boy questioned “I’m good , allot better than yesterday “ Michael answered. The dirty blonde could hear Luke hum “I’m glad you are feeling better “ the blonde commented. “Yeah me too” Michael replied as he let his hand wonder towards Mittens and run through its soft fur. “I was wondering if you want to do something tomorrow?” Luke questioned “Just something simple, we don’t have to go anywhere I just want to see you” Michael bit his lip to suppress the smile that was about to form on his face, he felt something warm flush through his body as those words left Luke’s lips ‘I just want to see you’ the sentence repeated itself inside of his head.

“Yeah , I would love to I guess we also need to talk some things through that we didn’t get the chance to do yesterday” The dirty blonde confessed, they still had a few things to go over but that was alright, Michael was somewhat ready to open up towards the boy. If he was going to be romantically involved with Luke they had to talk some things through and they both knew it, it would be better for the both of them to know what they were getting into.

“Yeah that’s alright” Luke answered “When do you get off” Luke questioned , immediately adding “From school, god I meant when do you get off from school please ignore that first question” Michael let a giggle escape his lips “At two” He said, still shaking his head “Pick you up at three?” The blonde questioned and Michael hummed “Sounds good”

“So I was thinking about going to the park, we could talk there or do you prefer to talk somewhere more private?” Luke questioned and Michael thought for a moment before replying “No the park is completely fine” Michael sighed sadly“ Luke as much as I love talking to you I really need to go” The dirty blonde said “Already?” Luke questioned, they had just started talking and he was looking forwards to talk some more “Yeah I’m sorry but I need to go somewhere” Michael said “Oh” The older blonde breathed “Yeah, I’m sorry. I’d much rather talk to you too but I really can’t miss my therapy session” Michael said , voice quieting as he said the last part, he decided to be completely honest towards Luke, no more lies.

“Oh that’s cool” Michael chuckled as he heard Luke’s deep voice sounding a bit confused “Well I won’t hold you up any longer then” The older boy stated, both boys said their goodbye’s before Luke finally hung up. Michael let out a sigh as he pushed himself deeper into the covers, a large grin spreading all over his face, that just happened.  
Quickly getting up and slipping his jean jacket over his t-shirt and stuffing his feet into his black converse, Michael picked up Mittens and quickly made his way downstairs , putting her into the play pen. His mother raised her eyebrow “Took you long enough to get ready, come on let’s go we don’t want to leave Angela waiting” she said. The dirty blonde nodded his head before he grabbed his coat and made his way out of the house with his mother following behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was more of a soft and sweet chapter that i used as a filler, the next chapter however will be more interesting.  
> Thanks for reading , please let me know your thoughts about the chapter in the comments and don't forget to leave some kuddos behind if you liked it.
> 
> Love you guys, and until the next chapter


	11. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So hello, i am back. I'm sorry for the long wait but i had exams and just general life happening but i'm here now with more inspiration than ever so get ready!!!

Michael fidgeted with his hands as he waited for Luke to arrive, they hadn’t really talked about anything that had happened yet and he didn’t know what to expect. The last time that they saw each other there were allot of mixed emotions, confusion and unspoken conversations between them. He wondered if Luke was still mad about the lying, he wondered if Luke would be able to still look the same way at him as he did when they first met. 

Sighing Michael picked at his bracelets , Luke was something so different from what he had ever seen and he was scared of what would be the outcome of today, what if Luke had thought everything through and decided that all of this wasn’t really worth it. He often wondered what Luke had seen in him without all of his mental issues but now the blonde knew about those too he felt even more insecure about himself.

As on que , the door to his bedroom creaked open slightly and a tawny furred kitten happily walked inside of his room making Michael smile. Mittens trotted towards the bed Michael was sitting on and rubbed it’s tiny head against Michael’s ankle making the dirty blonde smile and pick up the kitten and carefully put her in his lap ,petting the soft fur and being amazed by the softness and all the different patterns it had. 

The weather was quite hot, the Australian summer was finally kicking in and Michael couldn’t be happier, the only thing he was going to miss was his ever growing sweater collection that wouldn’t see the light of day until probably November. It was a shame , Michael loved sweaters but the Australian summers were warm and unless you wanted to suffer from a heat stroke it was wise to not wear sweaters during the summer.

So Michael had to settle for one of his favourite plain black t-shirts and some black skinny jeans, he checked the time again and saw that Luke could be arriving any minute now so he picked up Mittens and laid her on the bed, her favourite napping spot. Getting up and nervously picking a few cat hairs from his lap and smoothening out his shirt he hoped that he looked good enough. 

His mother was still at work like usually and Jason was still at his college so Michael made sure everything was locked before he nervously sat down on the couch and checked his phone again 2:57 pm Luke could literally be here any minute, the blonde was always on time.

And like Michael predicted not even two minutes later he could hear a car’s engine being killed and it’s door being shut and finally the ringing of the door bel. Michael inhaled a deep breath before getting up and wiping his sweaty hands on the back of his jeans before opening the door. He was greeted by the familiar sight of Luke’s bright smile. “Hey” Michael whispered, breaking the silence “Hi” Luke replied “How have you been?” his voice sounded soft as he spoke, another thing Michael liked about Luke, his voice and the gentle way he always seemed to speak when he was around Michael.

“I- uhm” Michael swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat “Good , I guess? “ he answered. There was a slight awkwardness as they both faced each other for the first time after all of it happened “Is it okay if I hug you?” Luke questioned “It’s fine if you don’t feel comfortable enough” he added quickly, never wanting to push Michael into anything even though it was just something as simple as a hug. Michael nodded his head “Y-yeah ,No it’s fine” he said and was soon engulfed in a warm embrace, his senses were hit with that familiar and calming scent of boy and cologne. Without realizing it Michael had already buried his face into the boy’s red and black striped t-shirt and tears started to silently roll down his cheeks as he just felt so overwhelmed with the comforting touch from someone who he barely knew but still meant so much to him. 

Luke’s arms were wrapped around him tightly as he rested his cheek on top of Michael’s head, breathing in the pleasing scent of Michael’s dirty blonde hair. Michael’s grip tightened on Luke for a moment , he had never expected to feel this overwhelmed but he did , Luke had an air of comfort and understanding hanging around him and he was willing to share it with Michael even though he was completely shattered from the inside , he was there and nobody else had ever been except his family.

After a few minutes Michael’s grip loosened, his tears had already dried and now was just listening to Luke’s steady heartbeat. He could feel Luke’s hands softly stroking his back. Pulling away, Michael quickly wiped the dried tears from his face before looking up at Luke and mumbling a “Sorry, I just” he cut himself off shaking his head, he just needed that, for someone to hold him, just for a few moments. Looking down and focussing his gaze on his own shoes and letting them travel towards Luke’s tattoos that he had never seen before, Michael frowned.

“I don’t know what happened” he finally said, he did know exactly what just happened, all the self-doubt and nervousness that he had been carrying around ever since that night Michael explained everything to Luke just vanished as soon as he breathed in the familiar scent of Luke and felt his familiar body heat and it overwhelmed him but he felt ashamed that he had let himself get so carried away.

Michael could feel Luke’s fingers softly being placed underneath his chin before they lifted up his face so he was looking at Luke’s angelic one “Stop apologizing for everything, you don’t need to Michael” Luke said with a small smile on his face making Michael bite his lip because he wanted to apologize again. Luke loosely wrapped his arms around Michael’s waist “I just want you to be alright okay?” Michael nodded and Luke smiled “good” he said before pulling Michael closer and gave him a warm hug , whispering “You okay now?” in the dirty blonde’s ear and Michael hummed .

The older blonde pressed a light kiss to the top of Michael’s head before he offered Michael his hand and the dirty blonde took it without hesitation. “You still want to go to the park?” Luke questioned and Michael quickly nodded his head “Yeah I would love to, I haven’t been there in a long time” he answered honestly and Luke shot him a confused look “Really?, you practically live next to it” he pointed out and Michael bit his lip “I uh, never really go out on the streets anymore unless I have to walk to my therapist” he shrugged. “Oh” Luke softly exclaimed once his mind made the connection and he gave Michael’s hand a comforting squeeze. 

Michael gave Luke a small smile, showing him that it was alright before they started to walk towards the park , hands clasped together even though they got a bit sweaty duo to the warm weather. It was something Michael read about in stories or saw in movies but he never pictured doing it himself or how nice that it feels to just hold someone’s hand, he always thought holding hands and all that stuff was way overrated but it wasn’t , the lightest touch of someone you like can set you alight in fire and flames from the inside and he liked that feeling allot.

“I never noticed that you had tattoos” Michael commented, eyes focussed on the black inc littering the blonde’s skin, he had only seen Luke in long sleeved shirts or jackets but never in just a simple t-shirt. “Yeah , I have five” Luke shrugged “I like them” Michael honestly admitted , admiring the black ink again making Luke chuckle “Thanks” 

They walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence, it wasn’t a long walk from Michael’s house to the park, it was really hot out and Luke immediately pulled Michael into an ice cream parlour and got the both of them ice cream.

They ended up sitting down underneath a three, resting their backs against the thick bark of the three and eating their ice cream “I know you said that I need to stop apologizing but I’m really sorry for lying to you and I hope you’re not mad at me anymore for it”

Luke chuckled “I’m not mad, I was but not anymore. I just wished you wouldn’t have lied about your age in the first place” he said shrugging and taking a lick of his ice cream. “shrugging “I don’t even know why I did it, I was scared you were going to walk away if you’d find out that I’m only seventeen” Michael said “I mean you’re definitely younger than I normally settle would have in mind but I don’t mind you being seventeen, I honestly think that age is just a number and I am more drawn to how you are as a person than how old you are” Luke said shrugging while looking at Michael making the dirty blonde blush.

“I don’t have a problem with our age difference but some people may have ,I don’t know how your parents will react when they find out that I’m twenty “ Luke stated. “My mom doesn’t mind” Michael said softly “And your dad?” The older boy questioned and Michael tensed a bit before he mumbled a “Out of the picture” and Luke decided to not push the subject any further and to just simply leave it like that and take another lick of his ice cream, maybe looking at Michael eating his in the corner of his eyes and he definitely did not have impropriate thoughts while doing so. 

They finished their ice cream pretty quick and made some small talk, neither minded it and somehow it brought them to a conversation about Luke’s tatt’s since Michael was very impressed with them and felt stupid that he had never noticed them but to be fair Luke always wore long sleeved shirts just like Michael did since the Australian summer was not quite as warm as it should be.

Michael ran his thumb along the black ink, Luke had a small music note and a heart tattooed on the inside of his right wrist along with a quote “Music is the window to our souls” Michael read and Luke hummed. “It’s really pretty” the dirty blonde stated “Thanks Cal did it” Luke said with a smile “The guy who you work with? “ Michael questioned and Luke hummed. Michael moved along to Luke’s left arm where a pretty large anchor was inked right underneath the inside of his elbow , it was beautifully done and had a feather attached to it “Did Calum do this as well? “ Michael questioned and Luke hummed again, smiling as he saw the younger boy stare in awe at his tattoo’s “He’s really talented” Michael muttered “Yeah he is” Luke agreed nodding his head.

“You said you had five, I know I am failing math but I only see four” Michael wondered making Luke laugh “Yeah , the fifth one is on my ribs” he explained and Michael nodded “They’re really cool, I’ve always wanted a tattoo” he admitted and Luke smiled “Maybe you’ll have one , one day” the older blonde suggested and the dirty blonde nodded his head “Yeah , one day” Michael agreed with a smile before he leaned into Luke , even though it was hot outside he still enjoyed Luke’s warmth against his.  
Luke casually draped one arm over Michael and watched as Michael smiled brightly, he looked so happy and at ease. For anyone that had never met Michael before would never even think that he was emotionally hanging by a thread as he was sitting here, cuddled into Luke and smiling brightly but that is what the early stages of Love do to a person, maybe he wasn’t completely and utterly in love with Luke yet, he did feel a burning desire to spend as much time with the boy as humanly possible and his stomach would always tighten up whenever Luke kissed him. He may not be in love yet but he definitely had feelings for the boy as crazily fast as they had formed, they were undeniable.

“Lukey?” Michael whispered breaking their silence. The boy had his head rested on top of Michael’s head while his eyes were focussed on the small pond a few meters in front of them “Yeah?” Luke questioned , lifting his head from his previous position causing Michael’s eyes to open. “My mom wants to meet you soon” he said and Luke hummed “I guess it’s about time isn’t it?” he said with a smile on his face “She would love you to swing by for dinner next week, if you have time” Michael said, mumbling the last sentence a bit underneath his breath. “Of course, on one condition though” Luke stated making Michael slightly nervous “Uh, yeah w-what?” the boy nervously questioned and Luke smiled “I would love to be introduced as your boyfriend” he smirked and it took Michael a few seconds to finally understand what he actually meant and as soon as he did his head shot up 

“Michael it would be such an honour to have you as my boyfriend” Luke stated with a loopy smile, the smile that had made Michael’s knees weak all those weeks ago right before they shared Michael’s first kiss.

Michael couldn’t help the incredibly big smile that formed on his face after hearing Luke say that sentence out loud and he couldn’t do more but nod his head quickly before leaning in and kissing Luke softly. The kiss was soft and slow, Michael’s face was softly cupped in Luke’s soft palms, long fingers tenderly stroking his face as their lips moved against each other lovingly. The kiss was short and sweet but Luke couldn’t possibly ask for more so he just smiled into the kiss and tightened his grip on the younger boy who had been stuck in his mind for forever. 

Resting their foreheads against each other Michael couldn’t help but smile, maybe his life had been an emotional rollercoaster of sadness and misfortune but somehow Luke managed to shine bright enough to light up all the darkness for now and Michael was perfectly content with that, he didn’t need more, he just needed Luke and it was a suffocating thought to have right now but he couldn’t care less as they shared another few pecks , smiling against each other’s lips.  
Maybe the rollercoaster that was Michael’s life was finally going up and he could only hope that it would going up for a long time but everybody knows that a rollercoaster has to go down once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So did i keep my promise that this chapter was going to be good?!!?  
> Please let me know what you think and leave kuddos if you liked it.  
> I'll see you guys soon!


	12. Twelve

Stuffing his hands deeper into the front pockets of his jeans , Michael sighed while he walked back home. His earbuds blasting music right into his ears, as he slowly made his way back home from his therapy session. Softly humming along to another Blink song as he carried a small frown around on his face.

He should happy, Luke’s meeting his mother and Jayson tonight and he’ll finally see him again after a few days since Luke also has college and his job. Yet Michael doesn’t really feel all that happy or excited, either nervous and anxious, he doesn’t want his mother or Jayson to hate Luke. Michael knows it’s a stupid thought to have since he can’t really see anybody hating the blonde boy with his ever charming and adoring smile yet there’s an uneasy feeling slowly eating him away.

He wasn’t feeling like this when he woke up in the morning, this morning he was completely fine, but somehow after his session he just isn’t anymore. Maybe it was because of exposing himself and leaving himself so open and bare in front of his therapist , she was the only one that he had been trusting to talk about everything what happened so openly with and talk about everything he felt. 

There was one question Angela asked during the session that was still stuck in his head _“Aren’t you afraid of Luke doing the same things to you or leaving when things get hard?”_ Those words echoed through his head because, yes he was, he was so goddamn scared that that would happen, what if Luke would hate him for not being able to give him certain things , how was he supposed to sexually please Luke when he couldn’t even stand his hand on his thigh. 

Maybe Michael was lying to himself , he wasn’t afraid his family would hate Luke like he said, Luke was likable and charming. Maybe he was afraid of his family liking Luke just as much as Michael liked him because Michael was afraid of liking Luke , he was afraid of getting even more attached to the blonde than he already was and end up broken hearted. 

Who was Michael to expect Luke to just stick around when nobody else ever could, nobody else even listened to Michael but he couldn’t blame Luke for leaving him if things would get heavy. The thought of Luke leaving just when Michael started to really fall for him was like breathing and knowing there will be a day that you won’t be able to take another breath anymore. Luke could leave any given moment and Michael would break into even more pieces than he already was, the glue holding the shattered pieces of his heart and soul together would snap in half and let the pieces fall back onto the dirty ground again just like they did half a year ago.

Wrapping his arms around himself Michael found himself thinking darker and darker again. Therapy had helped him in allot of ways but it also had let out all Michael’s dark thoughts that were never supposed to see the light of day run around free in his head, sometimes they stayed for hours, days even. 

Pursing his lips and letting an annoyed huff of air out Michael shook his head, he hated the thought of never being able to say goodbye to Luke when he hadn’t even been calling him his for a week. Ripping the headphones from his head and stopping the My Chemical Romance song from blasting through his speakers he walked up the two small steps to his front door before fishing the house key out of his pocket.

When he stepped into the house he was met with an overwhelming amount of warmth and the smell of lasagne making him snap back into reality and realise how cold it had gotten the past few days, it had been raining non stop and it had been allot colder than the week prior , not that Michael minded since he had just bought a new black sweater and he couldn’t wait to put it on tonight, hoping Luke would like it too. 

He greeted his mother before stumbling upstairs and throwing his jacket on his bed right next to his kitten that had been napping before he walked through the door, the kitten and Michael shared similar character traits, well trait, they both liked sleep more than anything. 

Without saying anything else Michael quickly got rid of the rest of his clothes and turned the shower on, taking one glance in the mirror and wishing he hadn’t , there wasn’t anything really special about Michael , it was just soft and round pale skin. Even though Michael had lost allot of weight ever since it happened, since he just couldn’t eat without his body throwing everything up, his body still wasn’t how it was supposed to be ,there was still some chub here and there, around his hips, his thighs, his face. 

Quickly looking away and stepping underneath the shower, he sighed in content as the warm water hit his cold and tired skin. Sometimes he would shower in the middle of the night after a really bad nightmare and silently, trying to wash every bad touch and bad thought away before crawling into Jayson’s bed. Jayson never minded , he always has been a heavy sleeper so Michael would never disturb him and he would feel allot safer in his brothers bed than in his own. 

Michael doesn’t know if he would still even be here if it wasn’t for the amazing support his mother and Jason had given him , they had literally done everything they could to stand behind him and he was beyond grateful for that.

Turning off the shower and wrapping the towel around his waist, Michael walked over towards his closet and pulled out his favourite pair of black skinny jeans and the new black sweater he had been dying to wear ever since he bought it online.

After Michael got dressed he laid on his bed for quite a moment, playing with Mittens before he finally decided to do his hair and put on some deodorant and walking downstairs, anxiously pulling at the sleeves off his sweater that was already giving him sweater paws. His mother gave him a smile when he came downstairs, both knowing it would be only a matter of minutes before Luke would be here.

When finally the doorbell rings, a smile appears on his face as his hearts starts to beat faster “I’ll get it” Michael quickly says ignoring the raised eyebrow his mother gives him before he walks towards the front door. Quickly opening the door he is met with the beautiful sight of Luke smoothening out his dark grey button up before quickly looking up and giving Michael a smile “Hey babe” he said before leaning in to connect their lips. Michael quickly turned his head to the side, dodging Luke’s kiss so that Luke’s lips just pressed against his cheek , biting his lip as he saw Luke’s confused expression “I’m sorry I’m just not feeling very well” he quickly mumbled ,starting to fumble with the sleeve of his sweater. “Oh” Luke mumbled in confusing “OH” Luke said a little bit harder this time as he realised Michael didn’t meant physically but mentally “That’s fine, are you okay?” he questioned not liking that Michael was feeling low today “Yeah, come in my mom has been dying to meet you” Michael said smiling a bit and Luke nodded letting Michael grab his hand, letting his thumb brushes softly over Michael’s knuckles in a calming manner while following the shorter blonde through the hallway and into the Livingroom.

Michael’s mother comes from the kitchen , a bright smile on her face as she quickly studies the tall boy standing next to her son. “I’m Karen, you must be Luke. It’s nice to finally meet you” she said holding her hand out for Luke who quickly took it and shook it “Thanks mam , it’s a pleasure to meet you too” he said way too politely making Michael smile “Oh please call me Karen” Michael’s mother gushes “What would you like to drink?” she asks and Luke replies with “Just a water is fine” Karen nods her head and turns to Michael “Michael sweetie why don’t you two sit down on the couch, I’ll get us some drinks” Nodding his head and grabbing Luke’s hand he leads Luke to the couch without saying a word.

They sit down and Luke has this goofy smile on his face “She’s really nice” he states “Now I know where you get it from” he adds making Michael blush and give Luke a small push “Shut up Luke” Michael mumbles as he tries to hide the blush forming on his cheeks. They stay quiet for a few seconds after that , leaving Michael to finally take a good look at his boyfriend.

Biting the inside of his cheek as he sees how good Luke actually looks in the button up, it clung to his body, almost as if it was a little bit too small, it was showing off everything but Michael wasn’t complaining, it was rather appealing to the eyes. Michael blushes as he realises he had been starring at Luke just a little bit too long but nobody noticed , he still couldn’t believe how good Luke actually looked and that he settled for someone as plain as Michael.

“Whatcha thinking?” Luke whispers just as Michael’s mothers shoes squeak against the wooden floors “Nothing” Michael quickly replies with a genuine smile before taking the glass of cold lemonade from his mother and thanking her.

Karen shoots question after question at Luke but the blonde doesn’t mind and answers every single one of them, letting his hand brush against Michael’s once every while. After Karen gets to know almost everything about Luke they start to share old stories, well Karen starts to share old stories about Michael and Michael wants to die, for a hole to swallow him up right there right then.

“Mom please” Michael begs but Luke’s laugh just makes up for the embarrassment. It luckily didn’t last very long because soon Michael’s mother stood up excusing herself “I’m going to prepare dinner further since Jayson will be home any minute now” she said and both boys nodded their heads.

Once Karen was out of sight Luke laid his hand over Michael’s making the dirty blonde look at him. Cupping Michael’s face with his free hand and brushing his thumb over the soft pale skin “Are you okay, you’re a little bit off” he questioned. Michael smiled and nodded his head “Yeah, I just had a therapy session today and I don’t know I didn’t feel so well after it but I’m okay now don’t worry” the dirty blonde replied making Luke nod “Is it okay If I kiss you?” he questioned making Michael smile and nod his head “Of course” he mumbled before Luke connected their lips for a short yet sweet kiss.

Letting his forehead rest in the crook of Luke’s neck for just a second, breathing in the heavy scent of Luke’s cologne that smelled amazing. It was amazing how Luke’s warm touch and his smell could calm Michael down instantly and make his day good again. Michael smiled as Luke pressed a light kiss to his hair before they pulled away from each other. Squeezing Michael’s hand in his , Luke smiled “Your mother is really sweet” Luke commented with a smile making Michael nod “Yeah she is, she has always been there for me even when things got hard” Michael said referring to half a year ago when it all happened , she never doubted or blamed him “I bet your mother is just as nice and polite as you , god stop being so polite please” Michael said with a small chuckle , missing Luke’s expression change for a second “Yeah she was really sweet” he mumbled “Way too good for everybody around her” he whispered underneath his breath “What happened to her?” Michael questioned “She uh- she passed away a few years ago” Luke replied with a sad smile on his face, Michael frowned, he didn’t meant to make Luke feel sad, he kind of wanted to ask how she passed away but he also didn’t have the heart to make Luke talk about it, he’d never seen Luke upset about something in the short time they knew each other. 

Luckily the front door opened quickly after that as Jason walked through the door and into their home. Biting his lip Michael mumbled a “I’m so sorry Luke, I didn’t meant to-“ “It’s okay, you didn’t know” Luke replied, a soft smile on his face “It still hurts but I know she’s better of wherever she may be now” he said and Michael nodded his head, tightening his grip on Luke’s hand right before Jason walked into the living room. 

Both Luke and Jason looked at each other for a few seconds in a way Michael couldn’t understand before Jason introduced himself and Luke used the same bright smile that made everybody’s knees weak before shaking Michael’s bother’s hand. 

Karen walked into the living room greeting her oldest son before announcing that dinner was ready. Everybody followed after Karen, who lead them to the perfectly set table. They all sat down, Luke right next to Michael and Jason opposite of Luke while Karen sat opposite of Michael. It was quiet as they ate the lasagne, Luke casually complimenting the food making Michael want to giggle because he was way too polite but he didn’t mind. 

After dinner Karen asked Michael for help with cleaning the table and he quickly nodded his head before helping his mother bring everything back to the kitchen leaving Luke and Jason alone in the living room for a few minutes. Jason looked Luke up and down knowing that he was slightly taller and broader than he was but he knew he could still break his pretty nose within seconds.

“Listen , Luke” Jason started gaining the blonde’s attention “I know you’ve been expecting the big brother talk but I’m serious, we both know what kind of bullshit Michael has been dragging himself through the past half year and I swear if you harm him in any way, or make him feel miserable I will not hesitate to end you, I’ve let enough douchebags hurt my little brother but I’m not going to let anything happen to him anymore so you better take really good fucking care of him or you’re out” he finished making Luke nod his head “I know, you need to know that I feel the same way, I’d never would hurt him on purpose” he answered genuinely.  
Jason nodded his head “Just please , be careful with him, he breaks so fast and I hate it when he breaks”

“I get it, I’d never want to be the one who breaks him, not again” Luke whispered, hating himself for making Michael break once already “It’s fine, at least now you know , it’s good that you know about what happened. Please just be careful and please give him some time and don’t push him into anything he doesn’t want to because he’s a pleaser, he always feels the need to go the extra mile for somebody and it could be fatal in Michael’s condition” Jason whispered and Luke stayed quiet, he never would push Michael into anything, especially not sexually. “I won’t , I promise to look out for him” he said making Jason smile “Good, because I actually really like you and I hope it all works out” Jason admitted “Thanks, I hope so too” he said with a smile, feeling a huge pressure being lifted off of his shoulders now that Jason liked him and did not want to cut his head off. Jason motioned for Luke to sit down on the couch before turning on the tv “Promise me you won’t pressure him, he’s still too scared” Jason said and Luke immediately knew what the meant “Don’t worry, I will take things at a snail tempo if that is what Michael wants” he said making Jason chuckle.

“What’s so funny?” Michael questions as he walks inside of the living room making Jason shake his head “Nothing, your boy just has a decent sense of humour” he said shaking his head. _His boy_ Luke was _his boy_ and he was more than pleased with that.

The rest of the evening was filled with drinks and allot of laughter as they talked about everything and anything, Luke fit in like a missing puzzle piece in the family and Michael loved it, loved the feeling of Luke feeling already so familiar in his life and he hoped that feeling would never go away. Both Michael and Luke shared sneaky and small touches during the night. 

When it was getting late already, Luke decided it was the best if he would go. He thanked Karen for everything and said goodbye to Jason, he had so much respect for the boy, he could imagine how hard it was to let your little brothers heart in the hands of a complete stranger, not knowing if he was going to crush it or worship it. Especially Michael’s , it was scary to know that if Luke would shatter it , maybe it would be damaged for good.

Michael lead Luke through the hallway again, a small smile playing on his lips as he enjoyed tonight allot, he loved seeing Luke get along with his family so well, it meant that maybe he had really found what he was searching for. Sighing as they stood in front of the front door Michael turned around “Is it weird to say that I don’t want you to go even if you’ve been here for like four hours” the dirty blonde questioned to no one in particular making Luke chuckle and shake his head “No sweetheart it’s not” he said before wrapping his arms around Michael’s waste and pulling him in close and Michael rested his head on Luke’s shoulder, it was so comfortable that he could’ve fallen asleep right on the spot if he wanted to.

Luke smiled , running his hand over the dirty blonde’s back knowing it was already late and Michael was tired , he could see it in his eyes “We’ll see each other soon yeah?” Michael mumbled in Luke’s neck and the older boy smiled “Of course babe, I wouldn’t want to miss you for too long” he said making Michael smile. They pulled away from their hug only for Luke to pull Michael into a loving kiss. 

They slowly let their lips move against each other’s, they hadn’t kissed like this ever since the day they made out in that closet at Zach’s party and Michael couldn’t help but melt underneath Luke’s warm touch as they kissed a little bit longer than normal goodnight. But he loved it and wouldn’t have it any other way.


	13. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello darkness my old friend, here i am writing again.

Time seemed to fly by whenever Michael was with Luke, the blonde always making him feel on top of the world whenever he was around him and even when he was not around Luke , the older boy would still send him silly text that would make him smile and he appreciated that allot. It seemed like Luke always had time for Michael and even when he secretly had none , he made some just for the dirty blonde because Michael deserved to feel special , he was to Luke.

It had almost been a month since they started dating, their one month anniversary only being two days away. They had been taking things incredibly slow but neither of them minded really, too caught up in the happiness and excitement of a brand new relationship. 

Michael had also met Calum properly when he stayed over for a dinner at Luke’s place , which he had to beg his mum 20 minutes straight for just to let him go. Even though she had met Luke and liked him didn’t mean she was approving of whatever was going on, far from that. She was scared for her youngest son, knowing he sometimes was to naive and she was scared that Luke could take advantage of that.

She still checked on him from time to time whenever Michael was with Luke, and there was the rule of always having his bedroom door open whenever Luke was over. Michael didn’t mind and neither did Luke , Michael liked to have the little bit of extra security even though he had learned to trust Luke and that he really didn’t have false intentions. Luke didn’t mind the suspicious looks Karen would throw at them whenever she passed Michael’s bedroom, he was glad that Michael’s family was looking out for him.

Besides the open door didn’t hold Luke back from kissing Michael, just like now when they were watching reruns of their favourite tv show and stealing kisses every now and then, Luke would pamper the younger boy’s face with kisses making the dirty blonde let out soft giggles. Michael had become quite comfortable around Luke and used to his touch , sometimes he would distance himself whenever it would get to much and luckily Luke understood and would just let Michael breathe.

Michael still found himself lying awake at night , staring at the ceiling and thinking about the handsome blonde who had just walked into his life with no other meaning than to make him feel loved and cared about, to make him feel special. He still would pinch himself while staring at that off white ceiling and smile whenever he could feel the slight sting of the pinch because this was all real and he still wondered how it could be, how somebody like Luke would choose Michael above everybody else he could get.

Sighing and snuggling closer against Luke’s broad chest, Michael closed his eyes , not really interested in the episode playing on his laptop anyways. He liked to focus more on the sound of Luke’s heartbeat, steady and calming. It were days like this what Michael would like to call his good days, days where he could touch somebody or let somebody touch him without memories popping up in his head and without making him feel nauseous or dizzy.

It were days like this that Michael could snuggle immensely close to Luke without having a single problem with it. Days like these he didn’t mind being touched, he actually craved the simple form of attention especially from his new lover. Closing his eyes Michael completely focused on the heat the boy underneath him was radiating or the strong smell of Luke’s cologne that met his nostrils in a pleasant way. It were all the small things about Luke that Michael liked allot. The way his body felt perfect against his, the way his voice sounded, the way he would always delicately touch Michael , the way he would always ask for consent no matter how small the thing was, 

Luke moved his hand that was wrapped loosely around Michael’s waist to the dirty blonde’s hair and ran it through the soft locks making Michael hum , eyes already closed. Luke smiled down at his beauty and continued to play with the younger boy’s hair. Maybe it was too soon to declare each other their love yet but that didn’t mean that they weren’t falling equally as hard for each other.

Michael let out a puff of air, opening his eyes and looking up to meet Luke blue one’s that had been on him already and had been studying him for a few seconds. With a small smile on his lips Michael moved himself a little bit more towards Luke’s direction to steal a small kiss. The younger boy giggled as Luke pecked his lips again before pressing a few kisses all over his face.

Luke moved himself a bit so he was hovering over Michael , the younger boy’s hands placed themselves on Luke’s upper arms as the blonde’s elbows were resting next to Michael’s torso “Is this okay?” Luke questioned and Michael nodded his head , even though they had been touchy before the blonde never failed to ask Michael if he was comfortable with something, it really helped the dirty blonde’s trust grow. 

The younger boy nodded his head and smiled “Yeah” Luke let a small smile slip past his lips before closing the gap between them , Michael’s arms wrapped themselves around Luke’s neck pulling him closer while Luke’s hand softly placed themselves on Michael’s sides, warm fingers burning into the younger boy’s skin in such a delightful way. 

Slowly letting their lips move against each other , their eyes were closed and they were lost in the moment. The sound of lips softly moving against each other filled the room with the occasional sound of giggling. Luke's hand trailed up the younger boy's sides a bit, one going up to cup the dirty blonde's soft cheek while Michael's stayed locked behind Luke's head, pulling the older boy closer to him. It wasn't that they hadn't kissed before but they never really made out like this, especially not with Michael underneath the older boy. Luke was always worried that Michael would feel trapped and freak out but Michael wasn't , he could only focus on the feeling of Luke's chapped lips against his and the burning sensation that he felt where Luke's hands were touching his bare skin.

They both pulled back for air , eyes meeting each others and smiling against each others lips, pressing one quick peck against Michael's lips before asking "You okay" Luke softly ran the pad of his thumb over the younger boy's cheek and Michael nodded , smiling "Yeah" he said before deciding to be a little bit more bold, in his own may , and softly placing his hands on Luke's and slowly sliding Luke's hands underneath his shirt. Luke's eyes widened at the move, knowing that he really hadn't touched Michael like that before "You sure?" he quizzed not wanting Michael to feel pushed to do certain things to please Luke but Michael just nodded and gave his boyfriend a reassuring smile "Yeah" he said, not looking away from Luke's questioning gaze.

Letting his hands roam underneath Michael's shirt Luke pulled Michael in for another kiss, and another one while Michael closed his eyes and relaxed underneath the older boy, feeling his heart rate pick up and his body burning from the feeling of Luke's fingertips trailing over his exposed stomach. The thing was, for most couples this was normal, but to Michael this was intimate and Luke was glad that Micheal was trusting him this much but it also made him worry because what if Michael was pushing his own boundaries for Luke, he wouldn't want the dirty blonde to feel pressured.

They kissed for a while, Michael enjoyed kissing Luke like this allot, both boy's caught up in the feeling of each other against their lips. Luke’s lips trailed down a path of kisses down to Michael’s neck but when he started to softly suck at the younger boy’s neck Michael’s breath hitched and he gasped, hands immediately moving towards Luke’s chest in a pathetic attempt to push the boy off of him, he couldn’t handle this ,this way too much. Michael started to panic, he wasn’t nearly strong enough to push Luke off of him and he felt like he was suffocating underneath him.

Luke immediately noticed Michael’s response and pulled himself back , eyes set wide as he realized what he had done. It wasn’t really Luke’s fault that Michael suddenly felt like he was suffocating yet he blamed himself for it. “Mikey” Luke whispered softly as the boy was breathing heavily still underneath him , his eyes were wide, looking at Luke like a deer caught in headlights. Luke mumbled a ‘fuck’ underneath his breath before lifting Michael’s body so that he was sitting against the headboard before pulling his own body back again and making sure there was enough distance between them.

“Michael please, talk to me” Luke whispered as he watched his boyfriend struggle to breath normally and shake as he was trying to fight the memories that were rushing through his head, he hated them, he didn’t want to see himself in that position ever again yet his memory wouldn’t let him stop thinking about it. He needed Luke, to touch the boy and know that it was just a memory, it wasn’t happening anymore, it wasn’t going to happen again, Luke isn’t like that.

The dirty blonde outstretched a shaky hand and Luke took it, squeezing it in hopes that it would offer Michael some comfort. It did, Michael closed his eyes and focused on his breathing just like his therapist had told him , in and out, in and out, in and out. Until he slowly started to breath normal again. Luke couldn’t do more than just watch, scared that if he would try to touch Michael to comfort him it would only work against him and set off an even bigger reaction.

Running his thumb over Michael’s knuckles , Luke tried everything he could without breaking any boundaries to calm his distressed boyfriend down “It’s fine Michael , just breathe , take your time” he whispered softly “You’re okay” and Michael knew he was okay, opening his eyes he looked at Luke , his heart aching as he saw how helplessly the boy looked even though he probably looked the same in Luke’s eyes.

“Can you hold me?” The dirty blonde whispered, his throat aches and it felt horrible “Are you sure?” the older boy questioned, not wanting to make the boy feel uncomfortable. Michael nodded his head and Luke slowly moved towards him, wrapping his arms ever so slowly around his boyfriend.

“You’re okay, I got you” Luke said as he held Michael tightly, the younger boy clinging to him. Resting his chin on top of Michael’s head and closing his eyes he slowly ran his hand up and down Michael’s back in a comforting motion. “It’s all going to be alright” Luke whispered.

It took a few minutes before Michael finally calmed down , his dead tight grip on Luke loosening. Blinking away a few tears that had managed to spill from his eyes. This had been the first time that Luke had seen him having a panic attack, he once called him after to hear his voice in hope of making him feel a little bit better but it wasn’t quite the same.

Michael wondered what Luke was thinking, he was too scared to even look the man in his eyes, both of them were quiet not knowing what to do or say next. All the younger boy knew was that he liked the comfort of being in Luke’s arms right now, his face pressed against the blonde’s broad chest , breathing in that familiar calming sent and listening to his lovers heart beating. The dirty blonde was extremely tired, panic attacks usually suck the life out of him and this one was no exception.

“I’m so sorry Mikey” Luke was the one breaking their silence, the dirty blonde didn’t respond “I got caught up in the moment, I wasn’t thinking and I pushed your boundaries, I’m so sorry”

Luke had never felt such a strong hate towards himself, he hated himself for getting to caught up in Michael and how good his lips felt against his, how his hands felt on Michael’s soft pale skin, how hot Michael was underneath him, he got caught up in Michael and his brain stopped working for a second, he hadn’t even realized that he had started to mark up his lovers neck.

Michael had this spell on him, always wanting to be around him and keeping him on his toes, and always wanting more of him. More of Michael and he liked the way his brain wouldn’t stop thinking about the boy at night making it hard for him to fall asleep. Yet he never wanted to overstep the younger boy’s boundaries, far from that, he was totally okay with waiting no matter how long it would take. 

The older boy didn’t care that there would be no sexual part in their relationship for probably a long time, as long as Michael wasn’t ready Luke wasn’t going to push him. It still pains Luke to think about the stuff Michael had been through and had to put up with just because someone couldn’t keep their filthy hands to themselves, Michael was too good for this world and he never deserved to be put in such a situation. Yet he was and Luke wishes that he could go back in time and prevent it somehow even though he knows that’s impossible.

The dirty blonde didn’t respond and Luke was scared, scared that he had screwed everything up big time. “Michael , baby please” Luke begged softly “Talk to me, I’m so sorry you have to know that , I never meant t-“ “Luke” the dirty blonde cut him off, immediately silencing the older boys rambling “I want to tell you that it’s okay and that I’m fine but I promised you and myself that I wouldn’t lie to you” 

Closing his eyes and taking in a shaky breath he continued “It’s not your fault Luke, I was having a good day and I was enjoying kissing you allot, I didn’t mind your touch at all.” Michael whispered , breaking away from Luke and finally looking up at him , his bloodshot eyes meeting ocean blue one’s that were full of regret and worry “It just got a little bit too much for me “ he said with a sad smile “It happens, and it sucks” Michael said with a shrug.

Luke knew that Michael had bad days, were he didn’t liked to be touched and he respected that even though he had this undying urge to hold the boy in his arms all the time. “It’s not that you did something wrong, it’s just that my brain stops functioning and all I can think about is him, and what he did to me and it scares me” Michael whispered.

“I understand baby, it’s fine” Luke said pulling the dirty blonde a little bit tighter against his own body , Michael closed his eyes and let out a shaky breath before relaxing into Luke’s arms because _It was just Luke, not him._ “Thank you, for understanding” Michael whispered , his head started to pound and his eyelids felt heavy, yet that was pretty normal after he had a panic attack.

Raising his eyebrows and brushing some of Michael’s fringe out of the younger boy’s face he smiled softly. “You don’t have to thank me for that Michael” he stated kissing the younger boy’s forehead softly. “But I want to” Michael said softly “You always understand , you always put me before you and you never question me whenever I have bad days and barely can stand hugging you” Michael stated “That’s because I know that you can’t do anything about it , Mikey you have to stop blaming yourself for everything” Luke stated.

Michael always thought that everything was his fault, it wasn’t unusual for a victim of sexual assault to think that way but it just saddened Luke to see Michael blame himself for everything and if he would ever cross paths with the pathetic excuse of a man who did this to his lover he wouldn’t be able to promise to keep his hands to himself.

The younger boy stayed quiet after that, wanting to argue that it was _his_ fault, he was so fucking naive in thinking that his teacher was being nice , he had put himself in that position half a year ago, he was the one staying after class to talk about his parents failing marriage. 

Biting his lip and trying to hold back his tears Michael buried his face in Luke’s chest “But why do I feel like it is my fault” he said tightening his grip on Luke’s black t-shirt in attempt to stop himself from crying “Baby boy it isn’t ,I promise you that, there was nothing you could’ve done to prevent it how sad it may sound, it’s his fault not yours okay?” Luke whispered letting the younger boy cling to him. “You need to stop blaming yourself darling, he was in the wrong not you” Luke reassured his boyfriend and maybe that was what Michael needed to hear at the moment, it wasn’t his fault , _no it wasn’t._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments and kuddo's ,i would really appreciate that!


	14. Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhm so hey surprise?

The past month flew by for both Michael and Luke and today was the day that marked their two months anniversary. Allot had happened in that time, most of them were good things and Michael was happy about that. He was happy right now, he hadn’t been for a while, sure there was a long way and a huge mountain that Michael still had to climb but it was a road worth walking as long as Luke was there next to him, helping him along all the way to the top.

Smiling to himself while pulling on another sweater and deciding that yes this one was better than the last one. The all black sweater was long and a little bit too big on Michael which gave him sweater paws, he knew Luke adored it since he always stared and told him. Michael did it just so the older blonde would tell him how cute he looked. Luke really was something special, he hadn’t ever met someone so caring and cautious to not break any boundaries. He only broke one once and he couldn’t stop apologizing for trying to give him a hickey for nearly two weeks. 

Michael wondered if Luke had been a way of making up for the shitty years he had left behind him. Because ever since he met Luke his life had become a lot more positive, he simply didn’t feel alone anymore no he felt like he belonged somewhere, he felt loved and cared about and he had been craving that for so long and now that he finally got it he couldn’t stop smiling. He had always dreamed of it and now he couldn’t comprehend that this was all real. His therapy sessions had been going better as well, Angela kept telling him that he was making a lot of progress.

Today was his anniversary with Luke and he really wanted to do something for the blonde since the boy had done so much for him but Luke was stubborn and told him he already made some plans of his own and that he was picking him up at four today after school. He didn’t go today since he was scared that someone would bring down his spirit and he would be in a shitty mood all evening, it happened before and it sucked because Michael never told Luke about how shitty people in school treated him he just told the blonde that he had a rough day and tried to appreciate Luke’s way of comforting him.

He hadn’t been this happy for a while and he was glad that he had the luck of meeting Luke, he gave him strength mentally and made him feel like what happened didn’t define him. He didn’t make Michael feel guilty for the lack of sexual contact between them, he never pushed Michael. It was always okay to not be okay and he loved that about Luke.

Quickly putting on some cologne his mother had bought him for christmas once, Michael sighed while picking at his fingers he was nervous and he didn’t know why he was nervous because he knew now that Luke wasn’t going away anytime soon, he told him numerous times. Yet he someway was maybe it was because this was quite big for Michael since he never been in a relationship before.

Michael quickly grabbed the present he bought for Luke even though he agreed on the ‘no presents on anniversaries’ rule Luke had but he wanted to do something for Luke, to give him something because all the older boy did was give but he never really received much from Michael. Luke put up with Michael, he answered his calls at four in the morning and calmed him down after a nightmare, he wouldn’t even question Michael when he was in a anxious mood and didn’t liked to be touched, he would always put Michael’s feelings in front of his own in any way possible and just like today when Michael wanted to actually take him somewhere he already made plans.

Looking into the mirror and fixing his hair Michael smiled, this was the biggest milestone they had reached and Michael was happy, he genuinely was happy. It felt like he was finally getting his life right. With Luke next to him he didn’t have to do it all alone and he was grateful for that, he always had his family around him but there were certain things they weren’t able to help him with.

There was a knock on his door and Michael hummed ‘Yeah?’ he questioned glancing over to his door just in time to see it open and his brother peek into the room “Hey, you’re still here i was scared i was going to miss you” He said before walking into the room and sitting down on Michaels bed were Mittens was once sound asleep but lifted her head in annoyance as Jason disturbed her sleep.

Michael smiled and walked over to the small ball of fur and softly petted it “I can’t believe it’s been two months” Jason said looking over at Michael “Trust me i can’t either” the dirty blonde said laughing “I just wanted to wish you a nice evening before you were gone, i know how much it means to you” Jason said while resting his chin on the palm of his hand , he was right Luke meant allot to Michael and Jason knew that. “Don’t think i haven’t noticed the fact that you barely sneak into my bed in the middle of the night anymore” Jason shook his head as he spoke.

“Yeah now i just bother him” Michael said biting his lip, he really hoped he didn’t actually bothered Luke when he was calling him in the middle of the night “Hey, you’re always welcome to talk and you know that , i’m just glad everything is working out for you” Jason said while wrapping his little brother into his arms for a hug “You deserve this so much, i’m so glad you are feeling so much better lately” Jason said sighing before pressing a soft kiss to his little brothers hair “You’ve improved so much in these past two months kiddo” he said while letting go of Michael and playfully messing up Michael’s dirty blonde locks making the younger brother pout.

“Look what you have done, Luke could be here any minute and you ruined my perfectly styled hair” Michael joked but he couldn’t help but laugh as he stumbled over towards the mirror to fix his hair, he was just so happy. “Thanks, for everything Jay” Michael said with a soft smile before giving him one last hug “Thanks for being the best older brother i could’ve wished for” he whispered.

Michael couldn’t express how lucky he was, he was glad that he would always have his family to fall back on. Right after he fixed his hair one more time he could hear the doorbell ring and he just knew that it would be Luke. Turning around and looking at his brother as if to ask what to do now Jason laughed “Go” he said and Michael nodded, quickly grabbing his jacket and the small present he had gotten for Luke before he was rushing down the stairs.

Once Michael had reached the door he put his hand on the handle and counted to five in his head, he couldn’t help but still get nervous and excited when things like these happened. Opening the door after he had composed himself , Michael immediately smiled as he was met with the sight of Luke in all black, a thick black sweater hanging over his broad shoulders and black skinny jeans clinging to his long and toned legs. There was a never dying smile written across Luke’s face and the boy’s hair was looking as soft and curly as it ever had. Luke immediately pulled the younger boy into a quick greeting kiss, wrapping his arm softly around the boy’s waist and whispering “Happy anniversary babe” making Michael blush and hide his face into the older boy’s neck letting out a muffled giggle.

“Happy anniversary” Michael mumbled while subtly taking in the familiar smell of Luke before pulling away “You ready to go?” Luke questioned and MIchael nodded quickly mumbling a “Yeah” before putting his jacket on quickly that had been loosely clutched in his hand.

Intertwining their fingers as they walked towards the car, Luke opened the door for Michael, something he still did after two entire months. Most of the times it made Michael roll his eyes because he hated being babied but he also loved it and Luke damn right knew it even though he never confessed to it.

Luke got into the driver's seat and buckled up before turning to face Michael “You put in your new piercing?” the blonde questioned and Michael nodded , it was just a diamond stud, this time it had a baby blue color. He had been immediately drawn to it since it had the exact same color of Luke’s eyes but he never told anyone that was what made him get it.

“I like it , green would have been better though, would’ve matched with your eyes” Michael shrugged “I like this one better” he simply stated and Luke hummed before starting the car and driving towards the restaurant he had made reservations by.

The drive was somewhat longer than Michael expected, it was about half an hour away. Michael had occupied himself the entire way with just holding Luke’s hand and playing with his fingers and running his thumb over the rough skin on of his knuckles. There was the occasional small talk and the playing of the music in the background but overall it was peacefully quiet.

The restaurant that Luke had chosen was incredible, it wasn’t over the top fancy but it was nice. It was an italian restaurant, both boys had agreed that it was their favourite food so Luke had decided to take Michael here, he hadn’t really been here in awhile, he used to eat here with his family every now and then and he always loved it.

Overall it was a great night, the food was delicious and both boys played footsie almost the entire night. Michael had grown to love the small display of affection, he somehow always craved the older boy’s delicate touch.

Just when they were both done with their food and were casually chatting about Luke’s upcoming midterms MIchael decided that it was the best time to slip the small envelope out of his jacket pocket “I know we kind of agreed on the whole no present thing” Michael started looking at the white envelope before letting his gaze trail to Luke’s face. The blonde had one eyebrow raised in surprise “But i hate that you always do everything for me but never allow me to give you something back so i got you this , it’s just something small” Michael whispered before handing the envelope towards Luke who skeptically took it and gave Michael one last look before opening it.

Out of the envelope came two tickets “They are for this small underground event there are allot of great bands, thought you may like it “ the dirty blonde whispered nervously, shifting in his seat as Luke wasn’t giving off any signs to read. Just as Michael was sure that the blonde hated it and not trying to let it show he smiled “This is amazing, thanks” He said while studying the tickets once more before looking at Michael “Thank you Michael, you’re coming with me though” he said with a smile and Michael couldn’t disagree 

“If you want me too, you could also just go with Calum i don’t care” he shrugged but Luke shook his head “No , i want to take you with me , if your mom is okay with that” and Michael nodded his head. 

After that Luke asked for the check and paid for their meal before wrapping his arm around the dirty blonde’s waist and kissing the top of his head whispering a ‘thank you’ again , nobody had really done something like that for him and even though he hated those couples who thought they always had to give each other something for every anniversary he liked that Michael had actually considered giving him something.

Once they came outside it was raining making both of them groan, it was nearly spring and the weather was still shit. They raced to the car , Luke keeping his arm tightly wrapped around the dirty blonde, making sure nothing would happen to him because if something would happen he would be dead for sure.

Getting into the car quickly Michael couldn’t help but laugh at their now slightly damp state causing Luke to join. “I was actually hoping that we could go to the beach since it’s beautiful around this time but i guess that isn’t an option anymore” Luke said while running a hand through his now slightly damp hair and looking at Michael. The younger boy shrugged “That’s okay , it’s not like you can control the weather” he said before leaning over the console and pecking his lover's lips. 

Luke smiled and cupped Michael’s soft cheek with one hand, letting his pointer finger slowly caress the skin as he pressed their foreheads together. Michael closed his eyes and leaned into the older boy’s touch. Completely caught up in the moment of pure happiness and love Luke let a soft “I love you” slip from his lips shocking both of them.

The dirty blonde’s breath got caught in his throat as he let the words was over him like “Michael i’m” taking in a breath and biting down on his lip before opening his mouth again “No don’t” Michael whispered, completely cutting the older blonde off “Don’t say you’re sorry” he whispered shaking his head and pulling away from Luke “I feel honored that you love me , i’ve just never been in love you know” Michael said looking down at his hands and pulling the sleeves of his sweater over them “But i think i am , i think i am in love with you” 

Grinning and wrapping his arms around Michael’s waist, the older boy pulled Michael into his lap.”Well Michael I think I am in love with you too” he whispered causing Michael to giggle. Burying his face into Luke’s chest to hide his flaming red cheeks from the older blonde, he listened to Luke’s heartbeat while the older boy softly ran his hands up and down Michael’s soft biceps. 

Michael smiled and wrapped his arms around Luke’s neck , was he in love? He had no idea but he was sure that the feelings he had for Luke were more than just liking somebody. Maybe he was already in love, maybe he wasn’t but there was no way to know the unknown.

Tightening his grip on the younger boy’s waist and pulling him ever closer Luke leaned in and connected their lips. Closing their eyes and letting their lips move together as one, Michael became a weak mess In Luke’s hands. His body was tingling and he could feel his skin flush underneath Luke’s touch. 

In these past two months they had been together Michael had became so used to kissing and even making out with Luke. He was used to the older boy’s lips against his own by now but they would still make his head float and his body melt, his mind would spin in circles as he wouldn’t care about the lack of oxygen. He only cared about Luke’s lips on his, the feeling of two persons moving together as one.

Michael’s hands wandered slowly , exploring every inch of his lover’s body. Fingertips softly slipping underneath the older blonde’s shirt and touching the hot and bare skin while Luke’s own hands were slowly rubbing up and down Michael’s clothed sides. Sometimes Michael wondered if Luke was craving more, he obviously was far more experienced and Michael was holding him back.

Yeah sure Michael was now comfortable with making out and letting Luke touch him but he wasn’t ready for Luke’s hands anywhere near his private zone, and he still hadn’t let Luke touch him more than just slipping his hands underneath his shirt. 

Curling his fingers around the hem of Luke’s black sweater, the blonde pulled away and took of his shirt with a smirk, fully aware that Michael was looking. He couldn’t ever get enough of Michael’s attention on him , Luke knew that he was decent looking but he loved how Michael would stare at him as if he was the most beautiful thing on earth.

Michael’s gaze was focussed on the silver shiny bar that was pierced right through his left nipple. “Never took you for someone who had a nipple piercing” MIchael wondered out loud making Luke smirk “It was a bet , Calum won obviously” Luke noted with a shrug making the dirty blonde nod.

Michael’s eyes trailed from the shiny metal bar towards the black ink on his ribs, he remembers that Luke told him he had a fifth one on his ribs _“never let a stumble in the road be the end of the journey”_ along with a date _27-11-2011_

“It’s something my mother would use to say to me, and her passing date” Luke explained, a said smile on his face “It’s beautiful” MIchael whispered while letting his fingers brush over the black ink. Letting his eyes gaze the tattoo just a little bit longer before slowly trailing his eyes up Luke’s chest until he reached his favourite pair of bright blue eyes. 

Biting his lip in order to stop himself from smiling, Michael was beyond happy. Luke made him happy. Cupping the blonde’s face softly in his hands like the older boy would always do to him “I bet she’s proud” Michael whispered and he truly meant it from the bottom of his heart “I know for sure that she’s proud of the man you have become, i know it wasn’t always easy without her” Luke was quiet as the dirty blonde spoke, Michael always spoke so fondly off him and it made him never want to let the boy down and be less fond about him. 

“You really think so?” Luke whispered, wondering if his mother would be as proud as Michael claimed her to be “Yeah, i know for sure. She would be proud that you turned your life around , that you fought your battle against alcohol and depression and that you got a job and decided to go to college. How you’re helping me” Michael said intertwining their fingers. Luke gave Michael’s hand a tight squeeze “I hope so” Luke whispered before wrapping his arms tighter around the dirty blonde’s waist and pulling him closer again so that they were chest to chest.

“I love you” Luke whispered as his fingertips brushed along Michael’s bare stomach “I love you too” Michael smiled, not even daring to hide the blush that crept up his cheeks because he was too busy taking in every inch of Luke, honestly the boy was just too perfect and he still didn’t deserve someone as beautiful and caring as Luke.

Leaning back into Luke they kissed, eyes closed and mouths moving together. Michael learned that Luke loved it when he bit down on his lip or toyed with the blonde’s lip ring. Luke’s hands carefully slipped a little bit lower down his back, so that they were now resting on the curve off his ass “Is this okay?” he questioned against the younger boys lips, michael just hummed before connecting their lips again, hungry for more, never wanting to stop tasting Luke in his own mouth.

They kissed like that for a few more minutes, making out in the driver's seat for everyone to see, well no one really walked by them since they were parked nearly at the end of the parking lot but they were still out in the open.

Michael pulled away , his lips were swollen and neither of them cared that there was a small trail of saliva still connecting them “Luke?” Michael whispered and the older boy hummed “I” the dirty blonde bit his lip “You can tell me” Luke said while softly running his hands along the boy’s clothed sides. “I wanna try something” Michael spit out making Luke sit up a little bit straighter.

“Are you sure?” Michael nodded “Michael are you really sure, don’t feel pressured to do something for me okay” Luke whispered but Michael shook his head “I don’t feel pressured i just want to try something” he answered and Luke nodded his head “What do you wanna try?” Michael blushed , suddenly feeling very insecure “Do you remember a while ago when we were making out and i freaked out?” he quizzed and Luke hummed “I want you to do it again what you did back then” he breathed out shyly meeting the older boy’s eyes “You want me to give you a hickey?” and Michael nodded and Luke smiled nodding his head. Cupping his lovers face softly in his hands Luke brings their faces closer together “Just tell me to stop if you want me to “ he whispered before slowly connecting their lips again.

They kissed for a while before Luke started to trail kisses down to boy’s jaw, slowly kissing a path down his neck before settling for a spot he knew would get the most reaction and softly starting to nibble at the skin. 

Michael could feel his heart pick up pace incredibly fast, closing his eyes and letting a soft whimper fall from his lips as Luke softly started to suck on the skin. It seemed all so normal for people but for Michael it was the most intimate moment he had ever had. He couldn't help but let out shaky breaths as he felt Luke suck and bite down on the skin of his neck. 

It wasn’t long after that when Luke pulled away, the skin was already starting to become bright purple. Bringing their faces together they smiled , resting their foreheads together. Yeah they were definitely in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading please leave kuddos and feel free to comment if it wasn't total shit 
> 
> Love you guys


	15. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that I pulled a Michael Clifford on you guys and went missing for two months but I am back again now. I had a massive writiers block and wrote a few chapters but they weren't good enough for me to post.

The ball rolled on and on and on, quickly getting closer and closer towards the target. Within seconds knocking all pins out of it’s way causing Calum to yell in victory and take a bow right on the bowling alley lane.

Luke rolled his eyes and sunk deeper into the stiff cushions of his seat while Michael giggled and rested his head on the boys shoulder as Calum threw a strike once again and strutted back to the booth the four of them are sitting. Plopping down right next to Luke and giving him a pat on the back, Calum smirked “Try topping 3 strikes in a row” he challenged the blonde.

Rolling his eyes once again Luke let go of Michael and got up, grabbing the closest bowling ball in his reach and picking it up before swinging his arm back and releasing it to roll over the bowling lane, knocking 5 pins down on it’s way and the remaining ones in his second try. Glancing back at a smugly looking Calum he rolled his eyes again before walking back over towards the seating area and reaching his hands out for Michael who took it and let the older boy pull him up. “Your turn sweetheart, last chance to throw the winning ball” Luke said before letting himself fall back down on the sitting booth.

Michael was his only hope of getting his team to win, as much as Luke hated to admit it , his lover was way better at bowling than he himself was. Calum had been throwing strike after strike gaining an incredibly amount of points, their only luck was that Ashton sucked at bowling and both Michael and Luke were decent bowlers. 

They had made a bet, the winning team buys the losing team dinner , and as much he liked the two of them, he was so not buying them dinner. So when Michael threw a strike causing them to win with 2 more points in total Calum groaned and threw his head back in frustration making Luke laugh. Calum may be an amazing bowler his boyfriend wasn’t and it caused them to lose the bet. Luke got up and lifted his own boyfriend up who shrieked in surprise “We are so getting dinner for free” he laughed loudly. 

“Oh that is what you care about? Free dinner? I just made the winning points Hemmings we both know you were slacking this entire time” Luke tried to act like he was offended but he honestly couldn’t care less “Yeah Yeah, rub it in that you are way better , it doesn’t hurt my ego or anything” Luke said while rolling his eyes. 

“If you two lovebirds are done celebrating we have dinner to buy” Luke put Michael down and turned around with a smirk “what got you in such a grumpy mood Hood?” he shot back before grabbing Michael’s hand and pulling him along outside to their car behind the grumpy couple. 

The boys settled with a simple pizza restaurant to eat at, sliding into the booth Luke slid in first since he knew Michael was quite anxious about being trapped between somewhere and even if it was just between Luke and the window he still felt slightly claustrophobic, it was an anxiety thing. The dirty blonde slid right next to Luke into the booth , their thighs were touching but neither minded it.

Ashton was sitting opposite of him , letting Calum sit next to the window. Michael had an amazing day with the three boys and he just couldn’t stop the stupid smile that was printed on his face. Calum and Ashton were pretty much the same as Luke, both of them were very laid back and welcoming. Even though he didn’t know them really well they treated him like they had known him for ages and he liked that, he liked that there was a click and it was very easy to be around them. 

The younger boy always thought that Calum just saw him as the guy Luke was dating but he actually seemed more like a friend tonight than anything else. Michael knew he wasn’t good at making friends, he was anxious , awkward and quiet even though he used to be loud but that faded away when everything happened and he suddenly just wanted to be invisible.

The boys ordered their food Luke’s hand bumped against Michael’s ,noticing the pout on his lovers face he always got when he was overthinking things. The younger boy smiled when he saw Luke holding his hand open for Michael to take, Intertwining their fingers, Luke loosely placed them on his thigh. The older boy kept tracing his thumb over Michael’s knuckles and giving his hand soft squeezes, their thighs pressed together, sharing body heat making the younger boy smile

Putting a smile on his face, Michael dug into his pizza just as the boys around him. It was really good and he had to give it to Luke that he had been right, this was the best pizza he ever tried. He thought that the tall blonde was bluffing but he really wasn’t. Smiling and leaning into the older boy a bit Michael couldn’t stop from feeling happy as he listened to Ashton ramble about this one time he walked into Calum sleeping in one of the art classrooms of their college and that was how they met. Calum and Ashton seemed like the perfect couple, they were so good together but it wasn’t sickeningly, they really evened each other out.

The food was great and Michael felt overall happy as he had spent the entire afternoon and evening with the three of them. Placing his hands on Luke’s bicep he got Luke’s attention, leaning into Luke’s ear he said “I’ll be right back i just need to go to the bathroom” earning a nod from Luke “Do you need me to come along?” Michael shook his head , giving Luke a quick kiss on the cheek along with a l “I’ll be fine” before sliding out of the booth and getting up , he didn’t need Luke to guide him.

Michael made his way through the crowd feeling slightly uncomfortable as people brushed against him but he was still okay. He could already spot the bathroom door signs, turning his head around to look back he smiled. Looking towards the table Luke and his friends were sitting, he felt at ease there, like he finally belonged somewhere and that maybe life was turning around for him.

Walking into the bathroom and doing his business before walking over towards the sink and casually washing his hands. The stall door behind him creaked open, thinking nothing of it Michael just continued to wash his hands but it was only when the man behind him spoke up that he froze in place “Haven’t seen you in quite a while sweetheart’ Looking up quickly Michael’s blood ran cold and his heart stopped beating as he laid eyes on him through the mirror. 

He looked exactly like Michael remembered him and his round face painted with a devious smirk. “Such a shame don’t you think” he tutted while stepping closer to Michael. Pushing his body as close as possible against the sink the dirty blonde felt his heart speed pick up, yet he couldn’t move away his body was frozen in place.

Just seeing the man again was causing him to bring back all the memories, the touches, the pain, the fear, the shame, everything. Michael could feel his body start to shake, if he wasn’t able to get out now he would break down right on this spot. “Leave me alone” Michael whispered , he wanted to scream but his voice wasn’t strong enough. 

“Don’t be like that Michael” The man said while taking another step closer towards him so he was now pressed against Michael making the young boy squeeze his eyes close in hopes of it being just a bad dream. Michael felt sick as the man touched him and he realised that he really needed to move, he needed to get out of here.Fighting against his frozen in place muscles , he jerked his body away from Mark’s. His feet moved on their own as he fought back tears as he quickly made his way out of the bathroom.  
he didn’t dare to look back at the man who was for sure still following, he just wanted to get out of here, he just wanted to go home and cuddle up with Mittens. His hands started to shake as the reality of what had just happened came crashing down on him. He felt violated, disgusting, unsafe. He touched him, and everything came back again. 

Michael had never felt so liberated in his life when he saw Luke and the rest come into vision again. He quickly made his way over towards their table and the older boy spotted the near panic attack look on his face , something had happened. “What happened” he questioned as he saw the desperate look in Michael’s eyes but the younger boy just dodged the question, looking at the floor. “Can we just go?” he asked not wanting to be in this place a second longer. Luke’s eyes darted to Calum and Ashton before he got up and nodded his head “Let’s just go outside okay?” he whispered while wrapping his arm around the younger boy and guiding him outside. 

Once they were outside and the cold air hit him, Michael felt like he was able to breath again. Like he wasn’t frozen in fear anymore, letting out a shaky breath Michael tried to find the right words but he just couldn’t. Michael didn’t even know what exactly just happened all he knew is that he wanted to throw up and he could still feel the man’s touch burning hot on his skin and not in the pleasurable way that Luke would cause him to feel. No this was different this feeling made him feel nauseous and weak.

Looking at his hands as he was to ashamed to face Luke, he couldn’t tell him that he let Alex touch him again, he felt so filthy. His hands started to shake in front of him and his vision blurred as his eyes glazed over with tears. Not being able to hold it all in anymore he let out a single sob and tried his hardest to blink back the tears forming in his eyes. Luke just carefully pulled him into his chest, afraid that Michael would push him away. Sometimes it was hard for Luke to decide if he could or couldn’t touch the dirty blonde , he didn’t want to trigger anything but he also wanted to comfort his lover.

Curling his fingers around the material of Luke’s denim jacket and clinging to the material for dear life, he silently started to cry in the older boy’s chest. Taking it as a good sign, Luke wrapped his arm around the dirty blonde and gently rested his head on top of Michael’s. The dirty blonde’s grip tightened on Luke’s jacket as he started to cry harder into Luke’s chest. 

Softly stroking the younger boy’s back, Luke pressed his lips against Michael’s hair “What happened?” he whispered softly squeezing Michael closer against his body. The dirty blonde sniffed and released one hand to wipe his tears away, from where it was clutching Luke’s jacket.

“I just, he was there and I- “ It didn’t make any sense but it was the only thing that Michael could produce, the only words that he could past his quivering lips as he shook his head and shook his head desperately as his entire body started to shake causing Luke to pull him closer into him and shush him ‘Who was where sweetheart?” the older boy quizzed while running his hand through his boyfriend’s dirty blonde locks. 

“He, Luke. I was just washing my hands and he came out of a stall and” Biting down on his lips Michael fought back another load of tears from spilling. Cupping Michael’s rounded face in his hands he made their eyes lock. “Michael , who is he” and when Michael didn’t meet his eyes and whispered “Please don’t make me say his name” the penny dropped for Luke who suddenly felt rage overtake him “He is here? “ Luke questioned , his voice seething with anger , Michael nodded. 

Taking a deep breath and running his hand through his hair Luke tried hard to control his anger , he was in the same restaurant as them and he managed to upset Michael to the point of him having a minor panic attack “Tell me what happened sweetheart” Luke calmy said.

Michael closed his eyes and took a deep breath in “I was just washing my hands and he came out of the stall and he recognized me , started saying stuff” Michael’s hands were shaking and his voice was thick with pain as he spoke. “What did he say” Luke questioned but Michael just shook his head saying “I don’t want to talk about it” while avoiding looking into Luke’s eyes. “Michael” The blonde pushed but the younger boy just sniffed and shook his head “Please Luke” he begged not wanting to confess that he let him touch him again, he didn’t want to confess how weak and filthy he had made him feel, what if Luke tought he was that too? 

Sighing in frustration the older boy ran another hand through his hair , messing up his curls. “Did he do anything else?” the dirty blonde didn’t answer again “Michael?” Luke pushed again and Michael gave in whispering “He touched me” in shame. “HE DID WHAT?” Luke screamed , disturbing the silent night around them. The older boy was seething with anger as he hit the wall beside them causing Michael to make himself even smaller than he actually was. 

It was silent around them again, Luke was breathing rather loudly , his fist still against the brick wall next to them as he tried to control his anger. This man had the nerve to touch his boy again and it angered him beyond anything else he ever felt, especially since he wasn’t there to protect him like he always promised. “Is he still in there?” Luke broke their silence and Michael nodded.

It wasn’t until Luke looked at Michael that he felt guilty for getting so caught up in his emotions. “Oh Michael” Luke whispered as he wrapped him up in his arms once again , hugging him tightly against his body “I’m sorry, i’m so incredibly sorry that he did that to you” he whispered and Michael couldn’t stop himself from starting to cry again “I love you so much, I am so sorry” Luke whispered , squeezing the younger boy impossibly close.

“I feel so filthy” Michael confessed “Oh sweetheart , no don’t please” Luke begged “It wasn’t your fault, I should’ve been there , fuck Michael I am so sorry” He rambled as he held tightly onto his lover , trying to comfort the broken boy in his arms.

The restaurant door opened again and Calum walked out “I don’t want to interrupt you guys but it’s been nearly fifteen minutes and Ash pushed me to check on you guys” He calmly spoke while taking in the scene in front of him, he knew about Michael’s situation. Luke had told him but made him swear to never mention to Michael that he knew, Luke just didn’t want Calum unintentionally doing something wrong, the dirty blonde was still in the middle of his recovery and he was fragile. So Calum didn’t say anything about the fact that Michael was clutching onto Luke for dear life. 

“We’re okay, just need some time i’m sorry” Luke spoke for them since the dirty blonde didn’t dare to look at Calum right now. “No it’s fine , there was a guy who stopped by our table asking if Michael wasn’t sitting with us earlier, don’t know the fella” Calum said shrugging but it was enough to make Luke stiffen because not only did the guy have the nerve to touch Michael again but he also stopped by their table. 

Untangling himself from Michael , Luke looked at Calum “Where is he?’ His voice was low and Michael hinted something murderous in the tone of his voice. Calum hooked a thumb over his shoulder and pointed to a tall guy with dark brown hair and an off white button up inside of the restaurant. “Is that him?” Michael didn’t dare to answer but when Luke questioned him again if it was him he nodded and gave in. 

Calum’s eyebrows shot up as he saw Luke ball his fists and detach him from Michael completely , his eyes were set on murder and it even scared Calum. “Luke” Calum tried but the blonde just walked into the restaurant completely taken over by anger. “NO LUKE STOP” Michael’s voice was shrill from crying so much as he tried to stop his lover but it was useless.

Luke was already walking over towards Mark, the impact of his boots slapping against the ground with every large step he took caused people to turn his heads around as he made his way over towards him. His entire posture was screaming anger and within seconds he had the man pinned against a table, fisting his ugly off white button up.

“WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE” Luke yelled, certainly gaining the attention of everybody inside of the restaurant while the man just gave him a sly smirk. “Sorry didn’t realize he was taken” he smugly said and Luke couldn’t stand the guys face anymore, punching him right in his smug face, his knuckles ached immediately at the impact of the hit. The guy groaned in pain and spat out some blood but still smiled deviously at Luke , loving the mind game he was playing with him “You seem very frustrated, have you tried fucking your boy toy yet? Definitely very stress relieving” 

“Say one more word , I swear I will end you” Luke said gripping the man’s throat and choking him , making it impossible for the man to speak back at him. The blonde boy could feel somebody’s hands on him, pulling him back “Let go of me” Luke seethed , tightening his grip on the man’s throat “You are scaring Michael , Luke stop it” Ashton whisper yelled and that was what it took for Luke to let go and let Ashton pull him off of the guy but not before giving him the dirtiest glare possible. He let Ashton guide him backwards 

The rest of it felt like a blur as they were told to get out of the restaurant but Luke had only eyes for Michael who was standing next to Calum who has his hand resting on his shoulder carefully. Walking over to the younger boy, Luke reached out of Michael but the boy flinched away from him, not wanting Luke to touch him. There was hurt and regret written all across Luke’s face as he saw how Michael flinched away from him, he hadn’t done that since the day Luke first gave him a ride home and placed his hand on his thigh. 

“Baby Please” Luke whispered but the younger boy just shook his head “I just want to go home” The older boy looked absolutely defeated but nodded his head anyways, he couldn’t objectify against Michael, he had every right to act like that. “I’m sorry” Luke muttered but Michael just stayed quiet as they walked towards Luke’s cars. Michael at some point wanted to ask Calum and Ashton to drop him off home instead but he didn’t dare to ask them.

The ride home was silent and awkward , Luke had clearly gone too far but he couldn’t help it, he felt so much anger towards that man. He had done terrible things to Michael both physically and mentally and he just wanted to hurt him, to make him feel the pain Michael felt for so many months now. 

When they stopped in front of Michael’s home neither of the boys moved, Luke was thankful for the fact that Michael didn’t get out calmed his nerves down a bit. “Michael I am sorry, I shouldn’t have done that” the dirty blonde sighed. “Can we just talk about this tomorrow? I just need some time to think and clear my head”

Luke nodded “I understand, it’s fine” Michael nodded his head and opened the door turning his body away from Luke “Michael” the older boy spoke, his voice barely above a whisper but in the dead silent night there was no way Michael couldn’t have not heard it. 

Turning his body back around to face Luke Michael looked at the blonde “I love you” Luke whispered and Michael felt the ghost of a smile creep up on him. He looked at Luke and he seemed miserable and Michael felt guilty for being so cold. Leaning in and kissing the older boy’s cheek briefly before pulling back he said softly “Just come over tomorrow okay? I just need some alone time, I don’t hate you” Luke smiled , a soft smile covering his tired features. Neither one of the boys said anything as Michael got out of the car and closed the door behind him. Luke watched him walk up towards his front door and unlock the door, waiting until he was safely inside before driving off.


End file.
